DAGUPAN CITY has formed the Flood Mitigation Commission, tapping private sector engineers, architects, and environmental planners who will work with local and national government counterparts in drawing up immediate and long-term solutions to the flooding problem. Mayor Brian C. Lim, in a press briefing on July 30, announced the commission’s private sector members, namely: Engineers Joseph Lo of the business sector, and Liberato Aficial and Arnold Palmero of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers; and Architects Maximo Tan and Zosimo Ganaden of the United Architects of the Philippines. The city government will be represented by Nancy Nazareno of the City Engineer’s Office, James Louell Fernandez and Jose Jesus Torio of the City Planning and Development Office, City Legal Officer Terence Marata, and lawyer Michael Camilo Datario, city government consultant. Mr. Lim will chair the commission while Mr. Lo will be vice-chair. “The commission is primarily tasked to create a master plan for the City of Dagupan in coordination with the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) and other government agencies on how to resolve our flooding both in the short and the long term,” Mr. Lim said in a statement from the City Information Office. In the executive order creating the commission, Mr. Lim cited that flooding in most parts of the city — which were caused by irregular land conversions, extreme weather events, and piecemeal infrastructure projects and urban planning — has been a “great threat” to the city’s development. He also said that in a flood mapping survey conducted by the University of the Philippines in 2017, three fourths of the city’s 48-square-kilometer land area experienced flood levels of at least 40 centimeters, with other areas twice to thrice as much. “The same study shows that aggravating the flooding, which the city is currently experiencing, will persist if no immediate and comprehensive interventions are undertaken,” Mr. Lim said.

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