Floods devastate Pampanga communities, wipe out Aeta tourist livelihood

Incessant rains due to the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat have affected at least 17 towns or 250 barangays in the province of Pampanga.

According to a "24 Oras" report from Jun Veneracion, a dike overflowed in the town of Minalin, prompting residents to resort to sandbagging to prevent the water from reaching communities.

The Gumain River also overflowed, sweeping away around 300 huts at Palakol Summer Place in Floridablanca, which Aeta families rent out to visitors as a source of livelihood.

"We rely on the income from renting out the huts to buy food and provide our children with school allowances," said Isabel Clavano.

"But we need to rise, find other sources to earn, like working for a farm to harvest vegetables," she added.

Clavano was one of the beneficiaries in the community of food packs and supplies from the GMA Kapuso Foundation, which visited the area at the height of Habagat.

Christian Sanchez of the Floridablnaca Tourism Office, said the surge of water was sudden that left no time for the Aetas to secure their huts.

In Minalin town, men who harvested eggs from a poultry used a banca to load the crates of eggs.

Ariel, a casket maker, assembled a makeshift floater using drums and bamboo poles to load the caskets that they need to deliver.

To some residents, the flooding gave them instant food as fish spilled onto streets from fishpens that overflowed.

Meanwhile, the knee-deep floodwater also submerged the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Bacolor town.

Pampanga Vice Governor Dennis Pineda said the local government will recommended to place the province under a state of calamity.

He said he would also call for an investigation on the illegal fishpens that allegedly blocked a river channel in Minalin.—LDF, GMA News