President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Saturday said he plans to revisit the Bicol River Basin Development Program (BRBDP), a project of his late father Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1973, following the devastation brought by Super Typhoon Kristine in the Bicol Region.
“Pinag-aaralan ko ito (I am studying this), and I found that in 1973, there was the Bicol River Basin Development Project. It was a USAID project,” Marcos said in a situation briefing in Camarines Sur.
“I have here a study from someone from UP (University of the Philippines) that assessed the effects of the BRBDP. Despite some challenges, mukha namang malaki ang naitulong. ‘Yun lamang hindi natapos. Noong 1986 when the government changed, nawala na ‘yung project, natigil,” he said.
(Despite some challenges, it contributed a lot. However it was not finished. In 1986 when the government changed, the project was lost, it was stopped.)
“We have to revisit it now,” he added.
Aside from the aspect of flood control, the BRBDP also included the farm-to-market road project to support depressed areas in Region 5, Marcos said.
Following his aerial inspection of Kristine-hit areas on Friday, Marcos said he observed that floods do not instantly subside in the Bicol Region after heavy downpour, as compared to Batangas and Cavite.
Marcos pointed out that rainfall in the Bicol Region was “double” that of Ondoy in 2009, where one meter of water was deposited in the area.
“That’s the proverbial problem of the Bicol River Basin. Kaya kailangan talaga nating pag-isipan (We need to think through) what are we going to do in the long-term, because we cannot expect any changes. Next time it rains, ito na naman tayo (here we are again). It will be the same situation all over again. So we have to find a long-term solution,” he said.
“Iba na ang conditions ngayon (The conditions are different now), with the advent of climate change,” Marcos said, adding that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is also currently conducting a study of the BRBDP.
Following the onslaught of Kristine, Marcos said the government has to specifically focus on flood control.
“May flood control naman tayo, pero hindi kaya ‘yung ganito karaming tubig. Hindi talaga kaya. Kasi walang forecast na ganito eh. Ito climate change talaga ito. This is all new. So we have to come up with also new solutions.”
(We have flood control measures, but these could not handle this much water. It really cannot. There is no forecast like this before. This is really due to climate change.) —KG, GMA Integrated News
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