Politics keeping barangay in Valenzuela City under

The Isla Elementary School in Barangay Isla, Valenzuela City has been submerged in knee-deep floodwaters since July. To get to the classrooms and the principal’s tiny office, one has to walk on a bridge of lined-up wooden chairs.

What used to be a basketball court has been turned into what looks like a swimming pool in front of the school building. Only, the water is green and murky.

The school’s 290 students and eight teachers are forced to hold classes, in rotation, in a small chapel just across the street.

According to principal Ofelia Santiago, the school’s chairs and blackboards have been destroyed in the floods. Lessons are now written on sheets of Manila paper, some of which are taped on the chapel walls and pews.

"This is normal for the students because the situation is the same in their homes," Santiago said.

At least 750 families in Barangay Isla have been affected by the floods since June. Barangay Captain Mardeo Fajardo’s own home is under waist-deep stagnant waters.

Residents throwing water out of their two-story homes is a common sight. Some 500-meters of the two-and-a-half kilometer long Isla Road, the barangay’s main road, is the only part of the 40-hectare barangay that is not under water because it has been upgraded.

According to Fajardo, the city government upgraded this portion only during the campaign season.

Fajardo claimed that Mayor Emmanuel "Bobbit" Carlos, now on his third and last term, has ignored the plight of Barangay Isla residents largely because of "politics."

Fajardo, who has been barangay captain since 1994 and a resident of Barangay Isla for 50 years, is a known supporter of Carlos’ political foes.

"Isla has become the catch basin of its neighboring barangays," Fajardo said, ironically because of Carlos’ "flood solutions."

When The STAR visited Barangay Isla yesterday, Fajardo pointed to an earthdike between Barangay Isla and Barangay Palasan, where Carlos lives. The purpose of the dike, Fajardo said, was to lead the water from Palasan into the Polo River. But because the river itself is already covered with water lilies, the purpose of the dike is defeated as the water overflows into Barangay Isla.

Fajardo also pointed out that the metal barrier that had been erected near the bridge in Barangay Isla River to stop the floods has actually added to the accumulation of water in Isla.

Worse, when barangays Mabolo, Pasolo, and Dalandanan, which are on the other side of the bridge, start to pump out their floodwaters, they go straight into Isla, once a beautiful place and was a favorite site for movies that starred Amalia Fuentes, Susan Roces, and Fernando Poe Jr.

The STAR tried but failed to reach Carlos for comment.

Fajardo estimated that residents will see dry land in Isla only by December. Last year, the barangay was completely flooded for seven months. Among other barangays with areas still underwater are Malanday, Pariancillo Villa, Pasolo, and Mabolo.

For Fajardo, a long-term solution for the perennial flooding is a concrete perimeter dike along the Polo River.

City officials have suggested the upgrading of streets as a solution. "That’s okay. It will help. But what about the families who cannot afford to add second floors to their homes?" Fajardo asked. Nevertheless, he has high hopes that the Camanava (Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela) Megadike project of the national government would help solve the city’s flooding problem.

In 1998, he said, that with a P900,000 budget, the barangay council proposed to have a feasibility study for a perimeter diking that would completely enclose Barangay Isla. But nothing has come out of the idea because, Fajardo said, the City Engineer’s Office has given him the run around.

Fajardo said the council could only do so much for the residents, many of whom are starting to relocate to more liveable places. "We have a fogging machine to fight dengue. We try to pump out the water when it subsides. And we have medicines for those who get sick during the rainy season," Fajardo said.

And the number one "illness" in Barangay Isla, not surprisingly, is "alipunga" or foot fungi.