STAR EDITORIAL: A SUSTAINED EFFORT
/ LOREN INSPECTS LAGUNA FLOODS
MANILA, NOVEMBER 6, 2009 (STAR) An aerial view of
the Napindan Channel and Manggahan Floodway will show the necessity of clearing
the waterways of illegal settlements if flooding is to be eased in Metro Manila.
The shanties clearly block the entrance to the floodways and hamper the flow of
water to the sea. The makeshift homes are directly in harm’s way during floods,
and the water, with nowhere to go, spills over even into communities that rarely
or have never experienced floods.
Yesterday the Department of Public Works and Highways started evicting 2,070 families living along the floodways. Local government and police authorities with jurisdiction over the floodways should never have allowed the shanties to be built in the first place. Now that cataclysmic flooding from the rains of storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” have shown the tragic consequences of this negligence, the DPWH should not waver in its resolve to clear the floodways of illegal settlements.
The effort can succeed, however, only if the clearing of waterways is sustained, and only if the evicted informal settlers are given decent relocation sites. It’s not hard to figure out why the homeless want to build makeshift homes over waterways, despite the risks of being washed away during heavy flooding. Without the necessary vigilance by local authorities, new informal settlers will quickly take the place of the evicted ones. And those evicted and sent back to the provinces will soon be back in the city, mainly in search of livelihood opportunities.
Unless those opportunities are created and sustained, there will be no slowdown in urban migration. And the impoverished will try to occupy every available open space, including the banks of rivers, creeks and floodways. As the DPWH starts evicting the informal settlers, it should coordinate with the agencies concerned to make sure the settlers won’t be back before the demolition teams can even catch their breath.
FROM THE BUSINESS MIRROR ONLINE:
LEGARDA & LAGUNA LEADERS LOOK FOR
SOLUTIONS TO FLOODED RICE FIELDS IN LAGUNA
PHOTO AT LEFT - SEN. Loren Legarda walks along the shore of Laguna de Bay in Santa Cruz, Laguna, during the inspection and on-site public hearing by the Senate Committee on Climate Change. Roy Domingo]
BUSINESS MIRROR: Thursday, 05 November 2009 19:57 SANTA CRUZ, Laguna—Sen. Loren Legarda on Wednesday met local leaders and government officials here to find solutions to the rice fields being flooded during typhoons.
Rice fields surrounding Laguna de Bay, the largest freshwater lake in the Philippines and the third-biggest in Southeast Asia, have been flooded for more than a month now since typhoon Ondoy lashed Northern and Central Luzon.
Legarda, chairperson of the Senate Oversight Committee on Climate Change, held a Senate hearing in a flooded rice field in sitio Butuanan, Santa Cruz, Laguna. More than a dozen mayors of lakeshore towns, as well as other local and national government officials, attended the hearing.
The aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy late September caused the waters of the Laguna de Bay to overflow by 10.4 meters, leaving 28 towns and cities submerged in floodwaters, and damaging thousands of hectares of ricecrops.
Typhoon Ondoy poured some 3,300 cubic meters of rainwater on Marikina and Antipolo which should have flowed through the Napindan Channel to the Pasig River and thence to Manila Bay at the rate of 150 cubic meters per second, Loren learned.
The fisherfork group Pamalakaya blamed the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) for its refusal to open up the Napindan Channel. They claimed that LLDA general manager Edgardo Manda refused to open the Napindan Channel that should have flushed excess water from the lake.
Manda denied responsibility for the operation of the Napindan Channel and pointed to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as the agency responsible.
Loren, however, noted that a study released by the Asian Development Bank in 2004 stated that the Napindan Channel was initially operated by the Department of Public Works and Highways, but its operation and control was turned over to the MMDA in 2003.
The senator proposed that it must be made clear which government agency has jurisdiction over the operation of the Napindan Channel.
Loren also distributed relief goods to poor families in barangay Gatid, Santa Cruz, Laguna, on the way to the public hearing. She wasassisted by Rep. San Luis of the Fourth District of Laguna, and by Mayor Ariel Magcalas of Santa Cruz, Laguna.
After the hearing ended in the afternoon, Loren visited an evacuation site in Pedro Guevarra Memorial National High School, Santa Cruz, where she also distributed relief goods to 200 families.