The solution to the problem of flooding

Today, my first daughter, Dr. Frances Angelique “Fara” Avila Tequillo, married to Atty. Jennoh Tequillo who has given me and my wife Jessica four grandchildren will be celebrating her 36th natal day. While we have just celebrated Father’s Day last Sunday, which was also the 4th birthday of my 3rd grandchild Jenna, Fara gave me another wonderful news that she’s pregnant for my 5th grandchild. Yes, of my three children, only Fara is married, and with God’s blessing of a 5th child coming soon, she follows my own parents’ family in the number of children, as we were also five in our family. Happy birthday Fara!

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Just in case you folks thought that we’ve all but forgotten about the controversial Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) that came up with that enigmatic 60-30-10 result on the Senatorial race in all the regions of this country, which was uncovered by an Ateneo professor and became viral in the social network, no sir we haven’t forgotten this.

Unfortunately, the Filipino race is so unperturbed by this type of electronic “dagdag bawas” which is why there is no clamor for an official and independent probe to look into why this strange phenomenon has happened in the May 2013 elections. I certainly hope that when the 16th Congress opens by month’s end, we would hear loud calls for a public probe on this.

Right now, there is a clamor by well-meaning groups to open the ballot boxes so that the truth would be revealed. But Comelec refuses simply because we suspect that they are part of this conspiracy to defraud our democratic process through the PCOS machines. Yet the Comelec’s response is that they will use the PCOS machines for the 2016th elections. God forbid that they would allow this to happen, unless they can present proof that the 60-30-10 was not manipulated by shadowy characters that benefited from the last 2013 elections. Again to the Comelec… please tell us the truth!

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It’s mid-June now, the rains has already come just from the low-pressure areas, and with it the flooding of Metro Manila and many areas all over the Philippines. Last Sunday afternoon in Cebu, there was a strong downpour (which could have been due to tropical storm “Emong”) that lasted some two hours and as we were driving towards SM City, traffic was at a standstill because the streets surrounding SM was flooded.

While our vehicle was stuck at the Subangdaku River bridge, which was not in the flooded area (this bridge divides Cebu City from Mandaue City and is a mere 200 yards from SM), I took a photo of the river where you can see the riverbanks being clogged by squatter shanties. However these shanties were not yet underwater and the rains has already stopped. But this only tells you that the flooding around SM is due to a failed drainage system; otherwise the floodwaters would have flowed into the Subangdaku River, which was already swollen, but was already emptying the rainwater into the sea, which is just 200 yards from the bridge.

This tells us that the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) has their work cut-out for them. It’s a simple matter of being in the SM area at the right time when the strong rains comes down. But this has been like this for many years now with no sign of improvement. Let us hope that under Mayor Michael Rama, who is also chairman of the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) we can finally fix this problem.

Meanwhile, it’s about time that the administration of President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III seriously consider the possibility of moving the opening of classes from June perhaps to a later or earlier date or for the Department of Education (DepEd) to come up with a research committee that would study where school doesn’t get interrupted by bad weather.

On the other hand, we already know that widespread flooding is due to the reality that Metro Manila or Metro Cebu for that matter experienced unprecedented urban growth, which was not accompanied by proper planning, especially with regards drainage. In short, infrastructure development in urban centers was left behind by our economic and population growth.

This is why we have a perennial lack of classrooms from year to year from the time of the Marcos dictatorship all the way to the presidency of P-Noy. Look at Metro Manila from an airplane and you will see rows upon rows of subdivisions, creeping in what used to be farmland.

Indeed some golf courses have also been constructed and got the eye of environmentalists for replacing farmlands. But the biggest culprits are those subdivisions that have turned farmlands into a concrete jungle. So since there is no room for rainwater to permeate into the ground, water, which seeks its own level, gets trapped in our streets. So do you want to stop the flooding? Stop the construction of more subdivisions and depopulate Metro Manila. That is the solution to the flooding that’s staring right at your face.

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