Flooded Navotas shanties demolished

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities demolished on Tuesday houses near a collapsed river wall that flooded parts of Navotas.

Some shanties close to the river wall along Celestino street in Barangay San Jose were torn down by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

MMDA Metro Parkways Clearing Group director Francis Martinez proposed setting up sheet piles to replace the damaged river wall.

Floods were exacerbated by an uncontrolled high tide as the Malabon-Navotas floodgate had been damaged since May 11.

The Navotas city government, meanwhile, is hoping that the broken Tangos-Tanza floodgate will be fixed before July 8.

Repairs had to be repeated after welded parts failed to pass quality tests, Mayor John Rey Tiangco told The STAR earlier.

“The water level is at low tide from July 1 to 8, so there is still time to fix it,” Vonne Villanueva, chief of the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office, told dzBB yesterday.

Over 200 families were evacuated after floods hit parts of Barangay San Jose over the weekend.

Villanueva said the wall’s age and weak foundation may have caused its collapse. — EJ Macababbad