Manila, Philippines - Authorities may resort to blasting houses of informal settlers in high-risk areas to force their occupants to move to relocation sites, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said yesterday.
“I just received instructions from the President (Aquino) that (if) push comes to shove, we will have to blast the houses (in some areas) if they will not leave within a certain period,” Singson said in a press briefing at Malacañang.
He said the government is looking at relocating up to 195,000 families immediately to make sure they are safe in the event of another heavy downpour.
Singson said there are laws governing the clearing of waterways, including the Water Code or Presidential Decree 1067.
He, however, clarified that there would not be actual explosions, only that there “might be forced resettlement” to clear the waterways and that dismantling of dwellings might have to be done by local government units.
As regards real “blasting” or use of explosives, Singson said he was referring to the “illegal dikes on the Pampanga River Delta Project” because these were illegal structures impeding the flow of water.
He said removing informal settlers from waterways would not only minimize or prevent flooding but would save lives as well.
“The problem is we see houses even in natural floodplains and they are really high risk areas. They should not be there, so this will have to be addressed,” Singson said.
“I have identified a little over, if I’m not mistaken, about 125,000 families on waterways alone in Metro Manila and about 60,000 to 70,000 in waterways around Laguna Lake that should not be there. Now, obviously that needs very strong political will to be able to address that,” Singson said.
Asked about local officials’ lack of political will or refusal to relocate vote-rich squatter communities, Singson said the President has already created an interagency body led by Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo to have the informal settlers relocated.
He said this would have to be done immediately and that they have already removed big structures within some water channels like in the Pampanga delta.
“And we just continue to meet with the LGUs that I think it has come to a point that we will have to set a deadline when they should be taken out. If you recall, this happened sometime years back during the time of (former) President (Fidel) Ramos. They really brought in the military to blast all of the illegal fishpens in waterways,” Singson said.
Singson said they would have to make a lot of updating of the urban master plan for Metro Manila because the existing ones date back to 1960s and 1990s.
“So they are really very obsolete. Now, after the ‘Ondoy’ event we upgraded all of the studies,” Singson said. Tropical storm Ondoy inundated most parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces in September 2009.
He said big developers should also be required not to discharge directly their wastewater into the city’s drainage system.
He said a local ordinance may have to be passed to require big developers to manage their wastewater more effectively. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said it wants to have its authority to issue building permits to property developers restored.
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said this would allow the agency to check unfettered urbanization, even in areas considered as “danger zones.”
Currently, it is the local government units that have the authority to issue building permits.
He said the MMDA used to have a say in the issuance of building permits in the 1990s. Tolentino said he would discuss the matter with the Metro Manila Council this week.
The MMC, whose members are the 17 Metro Manila mayors, is the policy-making body of the MMDA.
He decried the issuance of building permits for structures near or over waterways.
Last week’s massive flooding in Metro Manila was largely blamed on clogged waterways and creeks.
“For example, if you build near the Pasig River, it might restrict the flow of water and its impact would be felt in the entire Metro Manila,” Tolentino said in Filipino.
In a radio interview on Sunday, Tolentino said Metro Manila now only has 18 percent open spaces left.
Metro Manila also ranks among the most vulnerable mega-cities in the world today in terms of environmental challenges.
In the aftermath of last week’s monsoon flooding, the Worldwide Fund for Nature-Philippines, Pamalakaya, Save Laguna Lake Movement and the Koalisyon Kontra Kumbersyon ng Manila Bay called for a stop to the construction of shopping malls and high-rise condominium buildings and other structures near major waterways and river systems such as the Pasig River, Laguna Lake, and in flood-prone areas to lessen or prevent flooding. – With Aie Balagtas-See