Maria Cristina Sunga-Villegas, acting head of the Research and Planning of the Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), called on the barangay officials to monitor and stop residents from building structures on dikes and coastlines.
“Again manawagan ko with the Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO) sa mga barangay officials to look after kung puwede pa lang na mao pa lang pagtukod sa poste kung kahibalo na sila na dili na puwede tukuran kay mabutang ilang kinabuhi sa danger automatically ma-stop na sa barangay,” Villegas said duringI-Speak media forum on Thursday.
The demolition of structures on top of dikes and under bridges aims to protect the city’s dikes and bridges as well as underscore the importance of dikes for flood control.
PSSO head Angel Sumagaysay reported that the PSSO Coastal Road and Davao River Monitoring Team demolished 334 structures from October 2020 until the third week of January 2023.
“Gisabayan namo ug information dissemination na bawal magtukod sa duol sa sapa pero naa gyud mutukod. Ang partners namo dinhi ang barangays kay unang una si barangay ang nakakita kung naa bay mga illegal structures i-patukod within their turf kay barangay or purok leaders,” Sumagaysay said.
Sumagaysay also said that the number of illegal structures on top of the dikes and the coastlines has been minimized.
“Again sama sa gisulti ko ang tao mangita gyud ug kapuy-anan basta may available space. Mao na ginahangyo namo ang barangay na proteksyunan nila ang dike para ma-conserve ang integrity ng dike,” he said.
Villegas said addressing the problem can’t be solved with a click of a finger.
“But in time seguro through the help of the city housing nga mangita na karon ug mga relocation areas na-idevelop into a relocation site na makakita gihapon ug panginabuhi tung gipang-uproot nato sa mga delikado na lugar,” she said.
