The perennial flooding at a national road that cuts across a commercial area frequented by tourists in the resort town of Panglao will not be addressed anytime soon due to lack of budget allocation, a Department of Public Works and Highways official said.

According to First District Engineer John Paul Gascon, there was no allocation for the rehabilitation of the flood-prone road in Barangay Danao in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

Gascon said they have been proposing the allocation of funds for the elevation of the road and construction of a drainage in the area since 2022.

“We have proposed the budget for that pero it so happened hindi siya nasasali upon the approval of the GAA,” Gascon said in an interview over station dyRD on Thursday.

“Wala kaming control sa releases. We can only request, but we cannot pick or choose which projects will be funded,” he added.

The DPWH’s First Engineering District proposed the budget allocation for the project after receiving complaints from the barangay and the local government unit of Panglao.

Gascon said they plan to elevate the road and build a drainage system to prevent the ponding of water.  

“Ang kalsada is medyo mababa sa isang side and the properties on both sides ay elevated so nagkakaroon ng ponding so our solution is to upgrade the road to reach a specific level of elevation and then we will provide drainage,” he added.

Gascon expressed optimism that the project will finally get funding in the 2026 GAA.

“This year, I think Malaki ang chances na ma pondohan ‘yan and our maintenance fund will do some work to make an outfall,” he said. (A. Doydora)