Metro mayors give MMDA full control on flood concerns

MANILA, Philippines - The 17 mayors of Metro Manila, who compose the Metro Manila Council (MMC), agreed yesterday to give the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) full control and responsibility over flood control projects in the metropolis.

“The Metro mayors are looking for someone to be accountable when there are floods. That is why the MMC issued a resolution that all flood control projects, whether local or foreign-funded, will be under the MMDA,” Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista told reporters after a closed-door special flood control conference of the MMC at the MMDA office yesterday afternoon. The MMC is the policy-making body of the MMDA.

Bautista added that the MMC also agreed to tap the calamity fund as a source of funding for flood control projects in Metro Manila.

“We will use it for pre-calamity projects. But there are no clear guidelines on how to use the calamity fund for this. We will still have to meet with the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) on this,” Bautista said.

According to Marikina Mayor Del de Guzman, the MMC estimates that flood control projects in Metro Manila will need a lot of funding. He said that Marikina alone, which usually floods when the Marikina River swells, needs at least P1 billion for its flood-control projects.

Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri told reporters that the still-unfinished Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) flood control project has already ballooned in cost from P3.2 billion to P5.5 billion.

“I suggested (to the MMC) that the Camanava flood control project be reviewed and come up with a sincere, holistic approach to the Camanava flood control project,” he said.

Meanwhile, the MMC said it will look into the complaint of Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian that he was not properly informed by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) on the volume of rainfall from tropical storm “Falcon.”

Gatchalian told reporters that at the height of Falcon, he was searching for information, including the PAGASA website. He said information about the volume of rain from Falcon over the next five days was not found on the website.

He said that as he lacked information from PAGASA about Falcon, he could not immediately decide whether to order evacuated residents to return to their homes. Gatchalian told reporters that most of the information he received came from the MMDA.

“No one told us that the rains would last for five days. I am not pointing fingers but let us improve the flow of information,” he said. Gatchalian said that during Falcon’s height, at least 800 residents were relocated from flood-affected barangays.

Gatchalian’s concern was echoed by Muntinlupa Mayor Adrin San Pedro, who said that although PAGASA relayed information about Falcon to the local government units of Metro Manila, the information was lacking.

PAGASA acting chief and Science and Technology Undersecretary Graciano Yumul said it would be difficult for his agency to say how much rain would fall for each city and municipality in Metro Manila as they have different topographies. As such, he said, it would be hard for PAGASA to say which city or municipality would get flooded.

He said while PAGASA can predict the amount of rainfall, he said the effect of the rainfall is different for each city. “We cannot say if the area will be flooded because the conditions are different” for each city or town, Yumul said.

Yumul also said that the amount of rainfall for Metro Manila as brought by Falcon during a five-day period is found on the PAGASA website, contrary to the claim of the Metro mayors.

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said the problem of topography in rainfall forecasting could be resolved if the metropolis is divided into sectors based on topographical considerations.