LEGAZPI CITY – Albay 3rd district Rep. Raymond Adrian E. Salceda seeks national assistance and support to help restore the long-weakened flood defenses in his district following the onslaught of Super-Typhoon Uwan which inflicted an estimated P3.71 billion damage in infrastructure, agriculture and local livelihoods in his district alone.
The neophyte lawmaker, the nephew of former Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, noted that the latest devastation “follows a pattern of compounding impact, as most of the flood-control structures damaged by Typhoon Kristine in 2024 have now completely collapsed after Uwan.”
“We had already submitted our post-Kristine damage reports and engineering estimates to the DPWH and the OCD, but due to lack of rehabilitation funds, those same structures, already weakened, gave way this time. We appeal for help in restoring these critical defenses. It is the only way to prevent this level of damage from happening again,” he noted.
Among the most severely damaged structures, Salceda said. are the Centro Oriental and Gabon dikes in Polangui, the Bobonsuran, Malama, and Paclas flood-control structures in Ligao City, and the Carisac dikes in Libon town.
In addition, he added, the San Francisco dike in Guinobatan, which already showed erosion after Kristine, has now totally collapsed, while embankment failures were also reported in the Ubaliw–Talongog and Ilaor Norte–Busac dike sections in Oas. Some local governments have resorted to sandbagging and community-built embankments to slow down the water low along the Quinale A River and its tributaries.
“The sandbags bought us time for evacuation, but the underlying dikes are now fully eroded. Thanks to the early warnings and preemptive evacuation, the district recorded only one casualty despite having experienced Typhoon Signal No. 4 conditions,” he explained.
“Before Uwan’s landfall, around 75,000 families evacuated. Some of them moved to evacuation centers, while others joined their relatives in safer areas. We worked closely with the LGUs and our barangay networks to make sure no one was left behind,” he shared.
Salceda also cited the efficient coordination among the DPWH, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the LGUs, and community volunteers which helped ensure that all major roads were cleared and made passable within forty-eight hours after the storm.
He likewise noted that many palay farmers were forced to harvest their crops early, a necessary decision to save what they could before the floods, but one that will likely cause a temporary collapse in farmgate prices.
“We have asked the Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority to consider local procurement or emergency market support so our farmers do not bear the full cost of protecting their crops,” he said. Of the ₱3.71 billion in total damage, about ₱2.8 billion came from infrastructure losses, mostly from collapsed flood-control systems and road networks, he added.
Salceda said agricultural damage accounted for about ₱400 million, affecting roughly 8,000 hectares of rice fields, while the remaining ₱510 million came from residential, commercial, and other economic disruptions. He stressed that his district’s recovery cannot be sustained by local efforts alone, but “we have shown that preparedness really works.”
“Our zero mass-casualty outcome proves that. What we now need is national partnership to rebuild stronger flood defenses and irrigation systems. We fully trust the President’s commitment to scientific and evidence-based governance. We are thus ready to work with the DPWH, OCD, DA, and NIA to make sure every peso spent goes to structures and initiatives that will yield lasting and beneficial results,” he added.
“Sana po ay mapansin pa rin kami, kahit na almost zero casualty kami. Nakapaghanda po talaga kami, pero yung damage, ganun pa rin. Nakapagligtas tayo ng buhay, but the economic damage is massive,” Salceda concluded his statement in Pilipino.