Flooded path in Dumlog keeps students from school; barangay, school seek fix

TALISAY CITY, Cebu — A short pathway that students and residents in Dumlog use every day turns into a small river whenever it rains, even just moderately. The walkway sits right outside the Dumlog Barangay Hall and Dumlog Elementary School. It has foot stepping blocks, but those get covered by water quickly, leaving people with no dry place to step.

On rainy mornings, some students simply take off their shoes and socks, roll up their pants, and wade through. When the rain gets heavy, the path becomes even harder to cross.

What happens to students and parents when it rains?

Kenjie Cabañero, a Grade 8 student who uses the path daily, said he has gotten used to the routine. “Kung mag-uwan og kusog, nya wala gi-suspend, mo-baha dira usahay. Hubuon nalang nako akong sapatos para di mabasa ug ipa-saka akong pants para sad di mabasa,” he said. In English: if it rains heavily and classes are not suspended, the area sometimes floods. He just takes off his shoes and rolls up his pants to keep them dry.

Parents who cross the area to go to work, fetch their children, or walk them to school face the same problem. Jenelyn Mansueto, a mother of four sons, said the water makes daily life harder. “Kung mag-uwan og kusog, di gyud mi hapit kaagi. Maglisod gyud, mabasa atong tiil, atong sapatos, labi na akong anak nga estudyante, mabasa gyud,” she said. When the rain is strong, they can barely get through. Their feet and shoes get wet, and her child, a student, gets soaked too.

Mansueto said workers also risk getting their uniforms wet. To keep her children dry, she sometimes carries them or wears boots. On the worst days, she admitted, “Usahay absent na lang sila, labi na kusog ang uwan niya bisag wala gi-suspend.” Sometimes her children just miss school, even when classes have not been suspended.

What is the barangay doing about the flooding?

Barangay Dumlog says it has a plan for a proper drainage system, but it is still waiting for approval. In the meantime, the barangay is doing what it can.

Frank Larobis, chair of the Dumlog Sangguniang Kabataan, said the barangay is pumping out the water every time the rain gets strong. It also plans to install more foot stepping blocks so students, workers, and residents have more space to cross.

Larobis explained that the drainage project is still going through the required process before its budget can be released. Until then, pumping and stepping blocks remain the temporary fix.

Why is the school also flooded?

Jiores Lascuña, the disaster risk reduction and management coordinator at Dumlog Elementary School, said the lack of drainage is the root cause of the flooding in the school area. The school had requested a drainage project from the division office after learning that funding was available.

“Ang hinungdan ana nganong magbaha ang skwelahan kay walay drainage. Among gi-request gyud sa division dinha kay naa man ang budget, mao to ang drainage,” Lascuña said. The reason the school floods is that there is no drainage. They requested a project from the division because the budget was already there.

But an engineer who inspected the site found a problem: the difference in land elevation would make the project difficult and costly. The ground would need to be raised by about one meter for the water to flow toward the drainage system along the road. Bringing machinery into the area also proved complicated.

What is the proposed solution for the school?

Because of the elevation issue, the engineer recommended a different approach: constructing septic tanks. Lascuña said the school plans to use the drainage budget to build two large tanks that would help contain the floodwater.

Residents in Dumlog are hoping for a proper and immediate solution, especially one that lets the water drain so the pathway becomes passable on rainy days. For now, both the barangay and the school continue to rely on temporary measures while their proposals are being processed.

This report is part of student journalism from Talisay City National High School's Special Program in Journalism under Candice Grace Cabras Maque, published as an extension of CDN Digital's goal of promoting journalism that builds communities in Cebu and beyond.