State of calamity in Cebu, Mandaue

CEBU, Philippines - The entire area of Cebu City and Mandaue City were both declared under a state of calamity following the heavy flooding last Tuesday that affected large areas and stranded thousands.

Rain continued to pour the past several days also affecting the highland areas where landslides have been reported.

The most heavily affected areas in Cebu City were barangays Zapatera, Guadalupe, Kamputhaw, Mabolo, Mambaling, Pulang Bato, Kalunasan, Basak-Pardo, Buhisan, Pahina Central, Talamban, Inayawan, Apas, T. Padilla, Tinago, Parian, and Tejero.

The declaration of state of calamity by the Cebu City Council was made so that the city can tap into its calamity funds to address concerns of relief and other matters that need immediate action.

The city has over P200 million in calamity funds this year, which represents five percent of its annual budget.

Starting today, the city’s Department of Engineering and Public works will start dredging the Mahiga Creek at the boundary of Cebu City and Mandaue and the Manalili Creek.

A private contractor, Gonzalodo Construction volunteered to dredge the Mahiga Creek that runs from Maria Luisa in Banilad to Subangdaku in Mandaue.

The dredging of Tinago and Tejero creek will be undertaken by the Cebu Contractors Association.

The city intends to utilize the calamity funds and the appropriated P50 million for drainage projects.

On Monday, the city government will also start demolishing the illegal structures along and on the creeks and rivers.

The provincial government has also committed to help through the “Balik Probinsya” Program where illegal settlers in rivers and creeks will be offered assistance to go back to their respective hometowns in the province.

Those who are not from Cebu will be given financial assistance by the Cebu City government in cooperation with the Mandaue City Government to go back to their home provinces.

In an emergency meeting with the Cebu City and Mandaue City officials, both have agreed on three immediate goals to solve the flooding problem – dredging, demolition of illegal structures and restoration of the three-meter easement.

Meanwhile, the Buhisan Dam has started to overflow, but Metropolitan Cebu Water District Officials has assured the public that there is nothing to worry about.

The dam usually overflows whenever the island experiences continuous rains. The dam last overflowed in 2008.

An MCWD official said over Balitang Bisdak aired over GMA-7 that they will just let it overflow, but will never open the steel gate, because once it is open, a huge volume of water will rush to the lowlands.

The water from the dam goes to rivers and the reservoir in Tisa where the water is processed to make it potable. The 100-year-old Buhisan Dam supplies 5,000 cubic meters of water to MCWD.

Mandaue also

The Mandaue City Council also approved en masse during a special session yesterday the declaration of a state of calamity.

The council also approved a resolution creating the City Disaster Brigade.

The badly affected barangays were identified as Guizo, Subangdaku, Basak, and Tipolo.

 The floods damaged not only the houses, but also infrastructure and displaced many residents of the city.

Now that the city is under a state of calamity, this authorizes Mayor Jonas Cortes to utilize the calamity funds.

 The City Disaster Brigade will be composed of city employees, who will be assigned pre-disaster, during disaster, and post-disaster duties.

The resolution also calls for a clustering of barangays to help speed up the response of rescue teams, which was noticed during Tuesday’s floods.

Among the problems was that there were not enough people to tap to help the victims at the height of the flooding.

Rise of sea level

Agham Partylist Rep. Angelo Palmones said that the flooding earlier this week could also be attributed to the rise in the sea level caused by global warming.

Palmones said that Cebu is one of the top10 provinces in the Philippines which are “vulnerable to a 1-meter sea level rise.”

He said that what happened last Tuesday was definitely an effect of global warming and this should serve as a wake up call for the local government units to take action on issues related to climate change.

In the study conducted by Greenpeace South East-Asia in 2000 and was later published in BizNewsAsia magazine in 2009 revealed that there are 20 provinces and regions in the country, which are prone to a one meter sea level rise.

The areas include Sulu, Palawan, Zamboanga del Sur, Northern Samar, Zamboanga Sibugay, Basilan, Cebu, Davao, Bohol, and Camarines Sur.

While regions 9, 4b, 8, 5, 6, 7, 11, 4a, 1 and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao are the regions, which are also prone to the one meter rise caused by climate change.

Palmones warned LGUs to be more cautious with projects especially those that would have an impact on the environment.

He specifically cited reclamation projects.

Cebu City, which has the most reclaimed land according to Palmones, is in “high risk” of being under water.

Province takes action

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will convene today the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for an emergency meeting.

Garcia told reporters yesterday that they need to update and assess different towns in the province as to the extent of damage brought by continuous rains.

The meeting is also aimed at reminding all concerned agencies their respective role when there is calamity including the Cebu contractors who have the needed equipment.

DSWD is ready

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas has alerted all of its Social Welfare and Development Teams in the region to inform all LGUs in their respective jurisdictions to stock pile more food commodities and relief goods to prepare for emergencies.

The department also ordered the reactivation of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils as heavy downpour is expected to continue until March this year.

DSWD-7 is currently doubling its efforts in preparing family packs containing rice, canned goods, noodles, coffee, toiletries, and clothing to address the request for augmentation by LGUs.— With Ryan Sorote, Gregg M. Rubio and Niña G. Sumacot/NLQ (FREEMAN)