Villar files bill banning houses along waterways

MANILA, Philippines - Whenever there are flashfloods brought about by typhoons, the hardest hit are usually the homes situated near bodies of water.

Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. has filed a bill that would make it illegal to construct houses within 10 meters of riverbanks, other waterways and inland waters.

Senate Bill 2956 provides for penalties against local officials who would be jointly liable for any construction of houses that takes place within the prohibited zone.

Under the bill, the first offense would merit a fine of P50,000 for each of the three officials or imprisonment of six months or both.

The bill will not allow the said officials to get away by just paying the fine by including repeated violations as grounds for their removal from office.

Villar recalled the tragedy in Ormoc, Leyte in November 1991 where heavy rainfall brought down logs and uprooted trees from the surrounding hills and wiped out the entire community of Isla Verde.

Almost 5,000 people perished in the flashfloods, most of whom were living near the river delta.

The 2009 deluge in Metro Manila brought about by tropical storm “Ondoy” also highlighted the dangers of settling near the riverbanks.

In the recent flashfloods and landslide that hit Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, many of the people who perished were living near the river where housing projects were developed.

“Authorities say that people live where they should not and that obstruction caused by informal settlers putting up illegal structures or rich landowners encroaching on land such as riverbanks that allow natural drainage should be removed to avoid such tragedies,” Villar said.

He said the tragedies brought about by the typhoons should already serve as a warning to other areas that have settlements near riverbanks and waterways.