The government has a job to do

A few minutes of rain and parts of Metro Manila go underwater. Filipinos can laugh about many things -- kidnapping, a computer virus, a bizarre plane hijacking -- but it's hard to joke about a flood that creates monstrous traffic jams, damages vehicles and inundates houses. It wouldn't be so bad if the flood resulted from several hours of heavy rains during the monsoon season. Many parts of Metro Manila are in low-lying areas that are affected even by the tides. Last Saturday, however, a few minutes of rain submerged many areas in northern Metro Manila, Quezon City and Manila.

What happened? It's a problem that has been around for some time, but which seems to get worse every year. Metro Manila's drainage system is old and constantly clogged, the main river is heavily silted, while smaller waterways are not just clogged but disappearing. The flooding in northern Metro Manila worsened after a natural catchment gave way to a government housing project in Dagat-Dagatan. But with millions of pesos allocated each year for flood control, including an amusement tax on movie receipts, you'd think the problem would at least be eased.

As last Saturday's flooding showed, there's no such relief in sight. It's not as if the government lacked warning -- weather forecasters announced months ago that the country must brace this year for La Niña, the weather phenomenon that brings unusually heavy rains for a protracted period in this part of the world. That warning should have alerted the government to intensify the declogging and desilting of all drainage systems and waterways.

The warning, unfortunately for the public, was either overlooked or ignored. Or was it heeded too late? In recent days even minor downpours spawned flash floods. Think of what will happen when classes open next week.

The government can argue that Metro Manila is sinking slowly into the sea, that replacing the antiquated drainage system will require huge public spending, that the slobs who dump garbage indiscriminately will have to mend their ways. The government may have a point, but replacement or improvement of the drainage system can be undertaken slowly. And a sea change in Filipinos' sanitary habits is possible. In the meantime, the government has a job to do, which is to minimize flooding, to make floods subside as quickly as possible.