Malacañang asks DPWH to ensure flood pumps are working

MANILA, Philippines - After three pumping stations in Taguig City shut down at the height of monsoon rains that hit Metro Manila and its environs, Malacañang yesterday asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to ensure that all flood pumps in the country are working.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) earlier admitted that no diesel fuel was available to operate the pumping stations in Taguig, one of the areas devastated by the flood.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigal Valte said DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson informed them that some pumping stations in the country are already 30 years old and no longer functioning.

But Valte said the DPWH and the MMDA were aware of the problem and had been making sure the pumping stations would work no matter how old they were.

Valte said MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino was on top of the situation and had acted on the problem in Taguig City.

“We know, generally, the state and condition of our pumping stations, and of course, we are working to improve that. Not just the pumping stations but the water passage, we make sure there are no obstructions, no garbage uncollected, everything,” she added.

She said water must flow unimpeded in river systems and tributaries.

Sacked MMDA flood control chief cries foul

Baltazar Melgar, the head of the MMDA’s Flood Control and Sewerage Management Office (FCSMO) who was relieved for negligence after the agency’s pumping stations in Taguig ran out of fuel, yesterday alleged he was a victim of “injustice.”

Melgar told reporters that he was not given due process and the MMDA chief did not even bother to hear his explanation.

Tolentino blamed Melgar for the incident, saying his action is “negligence bordering on incompetence.”

Melgar has been placed on “floating status” pending the completion of an MMDA investigation for administrative lapses.

Melgar, however, said that contrary to Tolentino’s claim that he had only ordered the delivery of fuel last Tuesday night, there was already a requisition for the diesel fuel as they make the requisitions quarterly.

“We have a purchase request. Our request is good for three months,” he said.

According to Melgar, the MMDA spends P50 million a year for the fuel needs of its 22 pumping stations.

He said the agency’s 22 pumping stations need 200,000 liters of diesel for three months of operation. For 24 hours of operation, a pumping station needs 6,000 liters of diesel.

When pressed on whether the purchase requests have been lost in transit between the agency’s finance department or if the purchase requests have not been signed by Tolentino, Melgar refused to answer.

Earlier, Tolentino said Melgar only ordered the delivery of 6,000 liters of diesel on Wednesday morning. By that time, he said floodwaters were already too high for the delivery truck to reach the pumping station.

Tolentino said the Taguig pumping stations had been running for 10 days straight when they ran out of fuel.

Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo has ordered the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to conduct cleanup and water delivery operations in flooded areas.

Robredo instructed BFP officer-in-charge Ruben Bearis to deploy his men to affected areas in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog to conduct flushing-out operations as well as water rationing to flood victims who are temporarily housed in evacuation centers.

“After the floodwaters have receded came another huge problem – garbage and mud. We need the help of the BFP to clean up this mess,” he said.

Bearis said the clearing operations have to be finished this weekend, as classes will resume tomorrow. – Aurea Calica, Mike Frialde