P1.4B Infras for Arenas’ Congressional District

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

STA. BARBARA -The District Engineer of the Department of Public Works & Highway based here said that the Third Congressional District of Pangasinan has an allocation of P1.4 billion this year from the national government.

The District is under the watch of Congresswoman Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas.

Pangasinan 4th District Engineering Office Chief Simplicio Gonzales however said he was not privy about the appropriation the five towns and city’s District would be receiving in the next year’s budget.

District Engineer Simplicio Gonzales of
the Department of Public Works & Highway.

The P3.767 trillion 2018 national budget was approved last July by President Rodrigo Duterte where P643.3 billion was allocated to the DPWH.

District Engineer Gonzales said that he was delighted to learn that Dagupan City Mayor Belen T. Fernandez appreciated his men construction of a one kilometer twin dikes slope protection near the Ramos Bridge in Calasiao town.

Before the dikes, the 31 villages of Dagupan City had been enmeshed with eight feet flood even the typhoon or heavy downpour had already left the area.

 The mayor blamed the 1.5 meters each three culverts constructed by then District Engineer Marietta B. Mendoza for the flood in the city where classes from elementary to college had to be suspended.

Fernandez even threatened to file a legal case against the DPWH because of the damaged to properties in her city.

Gonzales and Maintenance Engineer Isagani Jose told this paper that the massive flood that drowned the five villages in Dagupan City would no longer be the same because of the twin one kilometer slope dike protections constructed last year.

The District Engineer could not cite as of press time how many kilometers of dikes his office would be building after the share of the District in the 2018 national budget would be downloaded.

Jose declared on that interview that if the previous flood was 100% deep it could be 30 % less deep because of the engineering intervention by the public works department.