With this in mind, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando has on the drawing board several dike projects to keep floodwaters from inundating low-lying areas in the metropolis.
As an immediate measure, Fernando wants more flood control pumps installed to make floodwaters subside quickly.
Financing for the dike projects will be taken from the Obuchi Fund of Japan earmarked for environment-related projects.
Proponents of the dike projects have started the bidding process and Fernando said he expects construction of the dikes to begin in the first quarter of 2003.
Fernando wants the dikes constructed to protect the most flood-prone areas of the metropolis: the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela (CAMANAVA) area, España street in Manila, and the banks of the Pasig River.
However, Fernando also said there is a pressing need for the immediate implementation of short-term solutions to Metro Manila’s perennial monsoon flood problems because the dike will take eight years to complete.
"Effective flood control," Fernando said, "is a three-step process. First, there has to be good engineering, right construction and then good maintenance."
President Arroyo ordered the transfer of flood control measures from the Department of Public Works and Highways to the MMDA last Saturday during her ocular inspections of flooded areas of the metropolis, where nine of the 17 towns and cities were submerged in floodwaters.
The responsibility for flood control is part of the MMDA mandate, but the budget, personnel and equipment used in implementing the MMDA’s flood control program are all under the control of the DPWH.
It will be recalled that over the years, several appeals were made by Fernando’s predecessors in the MMDA’s top post for the transfer of all personnel, equipment and budget from the DPWH to the MMDA.
President Arroyo is the first president to order the complete transfer of responsibility for flood control from DPWH to the MMDA.
"It’s about time that the function be transferred to the MMDA," Fernando said. "It’s a big task, but I’m not daunted because this could be done with the help of the 17 mayors of Metro Manila."
Despite his confidence in the MMDA’s ability to implement sound and lasting flood control measures, Fernando admitted that the MMDA cannot fulfill this new mandate from the President unless all flood control resources under the DPWH’s authority are transferred to the MMDA.
With this in mind, Fernando has asked that the flood control personnel now assigned to the DPWH be transferred to the MMDA, along with the equipment and budget for flood control projects still under the DPWH.
Fernando also said most of the flooded areas of the metropolis are inhabited by squatters, who habitually erect their shanties over, and throw their garbage into, tributaries, canals and other waterways despite the very real risk of they face of being drowned or rendered homeless by flash floods.
The relocation of these squatters to safer ground and keeping them from returning to these waterways are among the initial steps the government must take to implement an effective flood control program, Fernando added.
Another short term measure that must be undertaken by the MMDA, Fernando said, is the rehabilitation of the inactive pumping stations situated all over the metropolis for flood control. The rehabilitation and use of these pumping stations will help keep the floods from drowning the metropolis while the long term solution of a dike system is being built.
Fernando also told reporters that "this is my second day as the flood control head of Metro Manila and I am still assessing the situation."
Meanwhile, Metro Manila congressmen opposed the transfer of the metropolis’ flood control program to the MMDA.
Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo (Lakas, Valenzuela) who heads the association grouping House members from the National Capital Region (NCR), said the proposed transfer must first be studied thoroughly, as it is unwise to give the Fernando the heavy task of implementing the flood control program.
"Fernando is a very capable official," Gunigundo said, adding that Fernando "is just warming his seat as head of the MMDA and has just barely started to tackle the problems that he has vowed to solve, namely, traffic congestion and garbage disposal."
Gunigundo added that "the point we want to make is that Fernando is now preoccupied with the task he has set out to accomplish, which is solving the traffic and garbage problems of the metropolis. He does not need any additional burden at this time."
Gunigundo also said the implementation of Metro manila’s public works program, under which the flood control program is implemented, should be handled by a national agency such as the DPWH.’
"The program is not confined to the NCR. It affects and involves LGUs outside the metropolis, such as some Bulacan towns in the north and several Rizal towns in the east," he said.
The Valenzuela legislator cited the imminent implementation of mega-dike projects in the Navotas-Malabon and Taguig-Pateros areas once last minute hitches in the projects are ironed out.
These dikes will affect some Bulacan and Rizal towns, he added, citing the need for coordination with the officials of these LGUs by the implementing agency.
Gunigundo added that what the MMDA can do is to help the national government prevent flooding in Metro Manila by implementing a strict ban on the dumping of solid waste in rivers and other waterways that are the natural run-off channels of floodwater and by implementing flood control projects within its area of jurisdiction. — With Jess Diaz