The barangay captain of Botolan Zambales denies allegations made by a resident that their community has been severely damaged by activities of dredging ships engaged in de-silting the Bucao river.

In a certification letter dated 15 March 2024, Lolita E. Angeles, barangay capitano strongly denied the allegations of a certain Heidi Fernandez who claimed that the dredging and de-silting activities had caused monumental damage to the coastlines of their barangay in Botolan in the province of Zambales.

Angeles says there is no truth to the rumor being peddled by Fernandez that due to the dredging activities, more than 300 houses were washed away due to soil erosion.

Angeles asserts that the Bucao River really needs de-silting due to evidence of piling ocean debris that blocks exiting waters to the ocean, causing flooding in the area. De-silting is undertaken to release tons of garbage and other wastes that blocks the natural flow of the water unto the West Philippine sea.

The Bucao River was affected when debris near its mouth got stuck in 2009. Soil erosion, meanwhile, in Barangay Bangan, was not caused by dredging since de-silting activities in the river only began in 2022…

The dredging activities became a hot topic when Senator Jinggoy Estrada raised the alarm of Chinese dredging ships involved in de-siltation activities in Zambales. Sources say the good senator may have been misled by a sand contractor who lost the contract for the de-silting. This contractor has sworn to hit back at Zambales governor Hermogenes Ebdane for his decision to continue de-silting activities in the Bucao river to mitigate the effects of flooding.