By Danny Sagun

Mangaldan, Pangasinan (August 10) -– The earth dike at the banks of the Angalacan river traversing this town may have saved some barangays from the recent flooding but the situation worsened in other areas, it was learned Thursday.

Municipal Planning and development coordinator Julieta Petonio admitted that the dike which President Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated before the May 10 elections caused deep floods in at least three eastern barangays in the town of San Jacinto.

Residents of barangays Embarcadero, Macayug and Inlambo of this town and Sto. Tomas and Magsaysay of San Jacinto were surprised to see onrushing floodwaters in said areas as typhoon Igme spawned continued rains but the situation was different in other barangays which used to suffer from deep floods before.

The earth dike was constructed only at the western banks of the river from Embarcadero bridge up to the Cayanga section in San Fabian leaving the eastern banks as it is allowing the river to overflow, thus the severe flooding experienced by the affected barangays.

Petonio in a telephone interview over Radyo ng Bayan-DZMQ said Mayor Herminio Romero already made necessary communications to concerned agencies like the Agno Flood Control Office including the office of House Speaker Jose de Venecia on the matter.

The President, it will be recalled, elatedly told her audience gathered at the inauguration ceremony of the dike project that the perennial floods experienced by the town every typhoon season would be a thing of the past.

Her statement might have proved true to the areas protected by the dike but not in the unprotected barangays as earlier feared by concerned residents.

Meanwhile, the new administration of Romero has focused its attention on four major concerns – improvement of the drainage system, waste disposal system, revenue generation and traffic, Petonio said.

A material recovery facility will rise at the present open dumpsite in Banaoang to comply with the provisions of R.A. 9003, the solid waste management act.

The model MRF facility in Calasiao will be made as a pattern, she said.

With almost 100 percent of the municipal and barangays already paved, she said, the mayor decided to shift focus on the four major programs.