Noy to summon local execs

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino would summon local officials to discuss permanent solutions to the country’s flooding problems.

The President also said yesterday that the cycle of evacuating people and rehabilitation of areas affected by disasters could not go on.

Aquino and Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson took time to explain to the evacuees in Marikina, Quezon, Caloocan, Valenzuela and Malabon that various measures were being done for flood mitigation but long-term solutions would take time.

He and Singson, however, gave assurance that things would be much better by the end of the Chief Executive’s term in 2016.

The President, who was in high spirits as he spoke with the evacuees, said the government was working round the clock to make sure their needs were addressed.

For the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela (Camanava) area, the President said that a P2.2-billion eight-kilometer dike would be constructed.

For Marikina and Quezon City, he and Singson said the creation of embankments and catch basins at the upstream portions and tributaries of the Marikina river would slow down floodwaters cascading from the mountains located in Antipolo City, San Mateo and Rodriguez, all in the province of Rizal.

Singson explained that slowing down floodwaters from the mountains would allow the drainage systems to work efficiently to drain rainwater into the sea.

In Caloocan City, the President said the Department of Public Works and Highways had completed the flood-control plan and would be ready to present the it by next week for necessary approval and funding.

“We will not do flood-control projects in haste, this is not to be cute, not for billboards. Once they are constructed, the people must feel the benefits,” Aquino said.

Aside from flood-control projects, the President said he would also discuss the relocation sites for informal settlers living in danger areas.

Aquino said some projects like the geo-hazard mapping and the Project National Operational Assessment of Hazards focused on the Marikina Watershed helped authorities keep people safe every time there would be heavy downpour or typhoons.

He said local officials were important during calamities and that some of them could be charged with dereliction of duty if found to be absent in times of need.

In Malabon, Aquino explained he had to cancel some projects like the Laguna Lake dredging because he did not see it working to prevent flooding.

He also said the administration must be more proactive and advanced since the amount of rainfall had not been normal, apparently due to climate change.

Aquino likewise announced plans to improve the country’s garbage disposal and illegal logging, among others.

“We have enhanced effects of the monsoon. I’m told that the volume of water is even greater than tropical storm ‘Ondoy’ in 2009. But I think we have managed to demonstrate that the government’s disaster mitigation efforts are working. But, more importantly, the rescue services were on the ball and we didn’t have the same tragedy that we had during the (past storms),” Aquino said in an ambush interview in Malabon.

Aquino said the government had been preparing despite limited resources and “there’s infrastructure.”

“You have so many water systems. For instance, what I inherited was 30 or so government agencies that dealt with water so around the middle of last year, we tasked the secretary of Public Works and Highways to become the temporary water czar to get everybody in sync. Apart from that and the other infrastructure things that we’re doing, his major concern is flood mitigation,” Aquino said.

“For instance, it might be a road ring dike to mitigate the flood situation in (places near) Laguna Lake. It will take about two years or so to put in place but, first, we had to rehash the plans that will address all of these situations throughout the country. We had to review all of these things just to make sure you don’t have projects that are money-making ventures and redounds to more suffering for our people,” Aquino said.

Meanwhile, Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection Nereus Acosta dispatched yesterday a team from the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) to go around Laguna de Bay, specifically in lakeshore localities, to assess the extent of flooding brought about by heavy southwest monsoon rains.

Acosta, LLDA general manager, noted that as of Aug. 9, the water level of the Laguna Lake has reached 13.8 meters, which is close to the 13.95 meter-level recorded during Ondoy in September 2009.

“The normal level of the lake water is expected to be at 12.5 meters during rainy season and 10.5 meters during summer season,” he said.

The LLDA has already released its P300,000 calamity fund, which will be used to buy relief goods – canned food, drinking water and rice – to be distributed to affected communities in the provinces of Rizal and Laguna.

Relief operation is now ongoing.

Acosta said they also tapped the help of stakeholders around the lake region –various companies and corporations – to assist in this relief operation.

Donations in the form of goods are now being accepted at the LLDA main office at the Sugar Center, North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City as well as at the LLDA Calauan office in Laguna.

According to the disaster report prepared by the Provincial Government of Laguna, 14 lakeshore municipalities and four cities of Laguna are affected by flooding as of noon of Aug. 8.

Around 217,420 people were affected in the province. This includes 11,972 families, who are currently taking shelter in the 152 evacuation centers assigned by the provincial government.

Meanwhile, the LLDA management has identified areas of improvement as far as disaster mitigation is concerned.

“With regulatory and developmental functions being the core mandate of the LLDA, we are now looking into developing disaster mitigation process in order to complement what is being done by the local government units (LGUs). This will be in the form of setting up a warning system on the water level of the lake which can be used by the LGUs as basis for evacuation and rescue operations,” Acosta said.

Meanwhile, lake-based groups Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), Save Laguna Lake Movement (SLLM) and Anakpawis party list-Laguna Lake chapter urged the LLDA to open the Napindan Hydraulic Control Structure (NHCS) to de-flood the 90,000-hectare lake.

In a joint press statement, Pamalakaya vice chair and SLLM convener Salvador France and Anakpawis vice-chairperson Fernando Hicap urged Acosta to open all the control panels of NHCS so the excess water from Laguna de Bay will be flushed out to Manila Bay via the Pasig River.

The hydraulic control structure was constructed in the 1980s to hold volumes of water deflected by Manggahan floodway to Laguna Lake and those coming from Caliraya Dam to avoid mass flooding in Metro Manila.

However, France and Hicap pointed out that the control structure was never meant to control flood but to maintain a huge supply of water for industrial needs and possible source of potable water ready to cater to big business interests like Maynilad and Manila Water Co. – Aurea Calica, Rhodina Villanueva, Michelle Zoleta