SILG Sarmiento addressing the participants of the Flood Summit, stressing the importance of strategic planning and coordinated, conjoint designing on the waterways on flood-prone areas

March 18, 2016 - Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Mel Senen Sarmiento on Thursday graced the Flood Summit attended by almost 4,000 participants comprised of purok leaders, barangay officials, health workers and police action team members at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center, City of San Fernando, Pampanga.

SILG Sarmiento discussed to the audience the current plan of the national government on the flooding situation in the country, particularly citing the hazard of the Pampanga River Basin, then further stressing the importance of strategic planning of adjacent cities to efficiently and ultimately address the flooding problem of a community.

“The LGU [local government unit] must align their plan and design of flood-control waterways to the plans of their adjacent city or municipality, which is more pressing in the situation in the province of Pampanga, to address this [flooding] problem efficiently,” SILG added proposing an approach which shall help the local government units on facing the most-faced hazard and vulnerability of the province during rainy seasons.

The Flood Summit aims to raise the awareness of the 257 flood-prone barangays of the municipalities of Apalit, Arayat, Candaba, Macabebe, Masantol, San Luis and San Simon, all of which have recently been affected the most during the onslaught of Typhoons Lando and Nona.

Present during the event were Governor Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda, Congressman Oscar “Oca” Rodriguez, some board members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, local chief executives of the participating municipalities, and regional directors of the concerned national government agencies like DPWH, NHA, among others.