The Cagayan Valley Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC2) visited the Cagayan River dredging operations of DPWH R2 in Barangay Bangag, Lal-lo and Barangay Dummun, Gattaran, Cagayan on July 19, 2022. This activity is an offshoot of the RPMC-TWG meetings on June 10 and June 20 where concerns about the release of dredging equipment and payment of crop damages were discussed.

The site visit was followed by a Project Facilitation Session (PFS) to discuss the issues and concerns encountered in the dredging sites and to agree on actions to facilitate the dredging activities.

For the release of dredging equipment held in Port Irene in Sta. Ana, the MARINA reiterated the need for the DPWH to submit the complete registration documents as a prerequisite for the release. The DPWH will coordinate with the Bureau of Equipment (DPWH-BOE) regarding this. 

For the payment of crop damage in Bangag, Atty Ferdinand Butay of the DPWH said that since the claimants lack proof of ownership of the damaged crops, options such as dredged materials may be offered to them as compensation. Negotiations will also be conducted with the owner of the property traversed by the access road leading to Dummun dredging site as soon as possible.

Local officials of Lal-lo and Gattaran sites as well as DPWH, DENR, and MARINA committed to cooperate and carry out the agreed actions to facilitate the dredging operations.

Dredging at Bangag site is now complete and hydraulic geotextile tubes are being installed along the riverbanks. Geotextile tubes are large and porous tube-bags filled with dredged materials used to form a riverbank structure for embankment protection. Fifteen of the 104 available geotextile tubes were installed and are estimated to cover one-half of the 1.2-kilometer embankment needing geotextile tubes. About 160,735 cubic meters have been extracted out of the 970,962 cubic meters target at Dummun site, or 16.6 percent accomplishment.

The inter-agency monitoring team was composed of representatives from the regional offices of NEDA, PMS, PIA, DILG, and DBM. Also present during the activity were representatives from MARINA, DENR 2, DPWH 2, MLGU Lallo, and MLGU Gattaran.