“Nightmare of last year’s floods haunt Asingan folk”

30 September 2010

Villagers in a riverside community in Asignan, Pangasinan continues to have nightmares brought by last year’s flooding. According to a report from Inquirer, a resident from Brgy. Bantog said that the Agno River has split into two channels, one of which is heading to their homes and farms, due to the quarrying in the area.

The other concern of villagers in the area is that the bridge may collapse when another strong typhoon hit the area. Quarrying, according to the villagers, weaken the foundation of the bridges.

In the mandatory law, quarry operators are allowed “to extract at least 20 meters from the riverbank and at least 1,000 meters from infrastructures” (PDI).

But according to Bantog Brgy. Capt. Orlino Liberato, some quarry operators “seemed to go beyond their assigned plots, sometimes jumping to places outside their boundaries altogether.” Bantog also said that the strict enforcement of law lies on the hand of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

To that, Leduina Co, Pangasinan provincial environment and natural reources officer, admitted that they have received several complaints from residents and said that the agency has tried its best to resolve. The problem, however, is they lacked people who will monitor the goings-on in the area.

She said, as quoted from Inquirer, “Our technical team only goes there quarterly, so the local government unit must also play its part.”

Source: PDI (Sept. 30, A7)