City gets flooded again due to flawed drainage system

The City Engineering Office has appropriated at least P26 million to fix the drainage system around the area of National Highway in Barangay San Jose that got submerged in water again last week after the heavy rains that dumped into the city.

Officials of the City Engineering Office (CEO) declined to respond to queries made by Palawan News on Monday, but one who sought anonymity said that the funding will be included in the budget proposal this year to be funded in 2022.

In a copy of the appropriations proposal acquired by Palawan News, at least P26 million is being sought to fund drainage systems along Carandang Street in Manggahan; from Quezon to Juan Luna Street in Matiyaga; along Cactus Road in Sta. Monica; Castro Road in San Pedro; Fernandez Extension in Tanglaw; and Kaakbayan in Tiniguiban.

Grace Belostrino, a resident of Villarosa Road in Barangay Bancao-Bancao told Palawan News on Tuesday afternoon that the flood was up to knee-level in some parts of their area.

“Hanggang tuhod ‘yong sa part ng palabas kasi medyo  paakyat ‘yon,” Belostrino said.

Belostrino said that water swelled due to heavy rains on Sunday night, citing the drainage as another factor that contributed to flooding.

“‘Yong malakas ‘yong ulan the other night,  bigla na lang na umagos at tumaas tubig. Sa pagkakaalam ko kasi sira yung drainage do’n sa may labas namin,” Belostrino added.

Other residents were asked to evacuate as knee-deep floods hit some houses, which required a rescue operation to a certain person with disability (PWD) who had been trapped in his house.

“Yong nasa may kanto namin noong gabi pa lang sila yung pinalilikas na ng barangay tanod namin.  Kasi mataas na ‘yong tubig pinasok ‘yong bahay nila. Hindi naman dating ganoon,” another resident said.

Some residents were also trapped in their houses in some parts of Brgy. San Manuel as seen in the photos shared by Rheyshel Ann Peñas.

Some locals in Brgys. San Jose and San Pedro also experienced the sudden swell of water which had remained stagnant for lack of natural waterways.

In February 2020, city councilors Peter Maristela, Roy Ventura, and Matthew Mendoza questioned the “flawed” performance of the CEO pertaining to the drainage system.

The “young engineers” of the CEO had been grilled by the City Council in January 2020 for the “flawed” proposed P120 million drainage system in the city.

The Council questioned the CEO’s proposal pointing out several flaws on the design presented, which later turned out to be conceptualized without an ocular inspection by the engineers in charge of the design creation.

Reports on November 2018 following an inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) resulted to flooding in certain parts of Brgy. San Pedro, San Manuel, and San Jose which prompted the city government to first tackle the issue. (with a report from Romar Miranda)