Marikina appeals for heavy equipment

MANILA, Philippines — Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro yesterday appealed for the deployment of more heavy equipment for clearing operations as thousands of residents in the city could not yet return to their homes since most of the roads are still covered with mud.

Teodoro said they need dump trucks and skip loaders in collecting mud and debris brought by Typhoon Ulysses.

“Hindi kaya ng kamay o tao lamang mag aalis ng makapal na putik na naiwan ng tubig-baha (The thick mud left by the floodwaters cannot be removed by hand),” he said in an interview over dzBB.

Teodoro said around 10,000 individuals are still in evacuation centers as they could not return to their homes because roads are still impassable.

“Very challenging at napakahirap para sa mga taga-Marikina (and difficult for residents of Marikina),” he said.

The Eastern Police District said at least five people were killed. Two of them are from Provident Village, which was among the hardest-hit communities in the city.

The youngest fatality, according to Teodoro, is a two-year-old boy who was separated from his mother in Barangay Tumana and swept away by floods.

Teodoro said the barangays that were severely affected are Nangka, Tumana and Malanday.

Apart from food rations, Teodoro is also appealing to the national government to provide livelihood assistance and jobs to their constituents.

‘Angat water doesn’t reach Marikina’

Meanwhile, the National Power Corp. (NPC) said the released water from the Angat Dam does not flow to Marikina.

In a dzMM interview, NPC president Pio Benavidez said that from the dam, the water goes to Bustos, Plaridel, Pulilan, Calumpit, Paombong and Hagonoy, where it drains into Manila Bay.

Teodoro earlier said the water released from the dam caused the water level in the Marikina River to reach 22 meters, higher than the 21.5 meters registered during Typhoon Ondoy in 2009.