BAGUIO CITY - At least P25 million was released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) specifically to start the declogging of the Baguio City Camp lagoon located within the City Camp area to prevent the occurrence of flooding that poses a serious threat to the lives and properties of thousands of individuals living in at least 10 villages surrounding the bowl-like drainage facility. The amount is part of the P50 million earlier approved by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson upon the request of Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan and Rep. Bernardo M. Vergara to stop the perennial flooding in the affected villages during the rainy season which affect the normal living condition of the residents. The other P25 million for the ambitious project is programmed for release by the government early next year. Initially, Ireneo Gallato, district engineer of the Baguio City District Engineering Office (BCDEO), said the fund will be utilized to start the rehabilitation of the tunnel's inlet at the City Camp area with the installation of necessary steel gates to prevent the entry of debris into the tunnel that accumulates within and impedes the smooth flow of water. According to Gallato, controlled blasting will be done within the narrow portions of the tunnel, particularly between Caves No. 1 and 2 so that the rocks which have fallen from above will be removed and that the areas will be widened to allow water to freely flow, especially during the rainy season. The City Camp lagoon is a 3.8-kilometer tunnel that exits to the Asin River at Sitio Crystal Cave, Bakakeng Central here. Apart from the installation of appropriate timbering within the critical parts of the tunnel, Gallato added that clearing operations will also be done while the water level is low so that the tunnel can handle the huge volume of water that will pass through it during the rainy season next year. However, he claimed that the reason why the tunnel is clogged aside from falling rocks is the unabated dumping of garbage by the residents in the tributaries which are being washed down to the tunnel by the free-flowing water. At the same time, Gallato disclosed that experts from the public works department will be coming to the city early next year to conduct a feasibility study on the recommendation of Singson to set up a water impounding facility within the area so that the water coming from highly elevated areas will be treated and will be used by the communities in the area. Considering that there is an impending water problem in the city, the DPWH official asserted the need to set up appropriate water impounding facilities in the area so that the same will help in significantly addressing such concern through the treatment of waste water. City Camp residents welcomed the initiative of local officials to lobby for funding support to declog the lagoon so that perennial flooding will be prevented and that they could live a normal life even during the rainy season. In the early 1990s, the government funded the declogging of the City Camp lagoon which resulted to the prevention of flooding over the past 10 years but the lack of discipline of residents in dumping their waste caused the flooding problem to occur.
It can be recalled that during the first tenure of the Espino administration, the production of teacher guidebooks for elementary as well as high school classes in mathematics, science, and English was undertaken purposely to improve the quality of instruction and to provide uniform lessons for the most basic subjects in all public elementary and high schools across the entire province from the urban centers down to the remotest villages
