Blamed for disaster, floodway settlers are immovable force
JOHANNA CAMILLE SISANTE, GMANews.TV
10/24/2009 | 06:18 PM
TAYTAY, Rizal - Save for lacy curtains and a crumpled poster of a perfume bottle, the first floor of Sarah Hernandez's small concrete home is completely bare. Whatever was spared by Tropical Storm Ondoy was moved to the second floor, where she, her husband, and their two young children have stayed for the last three weeks.
On a recent sunny day, with news of another storm approaching, Sarah finally found time to clean. As she looked around the emptiness with a cleaning broom in hand, Sarah said, "Para tayong bagong panganak (It's like the day we were born)."
One month after Ondoy dumped a record amount of rainfall on Metro Manila and its environs, Sarah and her family are like the untold thousands still far from recovering from the storm.
But in a way that could compound their misery, the Hernandez family and their neighbors are different from other victims. Living along the Manggahan Floodway, one of the biggest flood control projects in the country, they are also being blamed as culprits for the most devastating flood the metropolis has ever seen.
An estimated 25,000 houses are situated along the nine-kilometer-long Manggahan Floodway, a man-made canal that stretches from a sharp bend in the Marikina River to Laguna Lake.
At its full capacity, the floodway could have channeled more of the overflow of the Marikina River and perhaps minimized the flooding that killed dozens and devastated property in low-lying Marikina City and the communities on both sides of the floodway.
But the illegal settlements along the floodway severely constricted the movement of water, according to officials and engineers interviewed for this report.
Originally 260 meters wide, the floodway was narrowed down to only 220 meters because of the rows of houses built along its edges, according to Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) general manager Edgardo Manda.
"That slows down the water coming from Marikina River because of structures on both sides of the [floodway]," Manda said. "So yung velocity niya bumabagal (So the velocity of the water slows down)."
According to UP engineering professor Dr. Guillermo Tabios III, head of the UP National Hydraulic Research Center, the Manggahan Floodway was designed to handle 2,900 cubic meters per second of water flow.
Even though about 3,000 cubic meters per second flowed from the Marikina River at the height of 'Ondoy', Tabios believes the floodway would not have overflowed had there been no informal settlers.
"Sa Manggahan kaya sana ang 2,900 or 3,000 pero nag-overflow siya dahil sa informal settlers (Manggahan could've carried 2,900 or even 3,000 cubic meters per second of water flow, but it overflowed because of the informal settlers)," Tabios said.
"Definitely it (informal settlers) reduced its capacity such that the effect has really raised the water by one to two meters," he said.
Traversing Pasig, Cainta, and Taytay, the floodway was built by the Department of Public Works and Highways in the 1980s as a showcase flood control project. But the devastating floods in those densely populated communities, in addition to Marikina, are damning proof that the floodway utterly failed to do its job. With less space in the floodway, water quickly breached its banks.
Blaming the floodway settlers is easy, but finding a solution so that the flooding won’t be repeated is making officials scratch their heads and blame the settlers again.
Cainta Mayor Mon Ilagan said that while his municipality—which he said includes 80 percent of the area occupied by the floodway—has short-term and long-term relocation plans, some residents don’t want to be relocated outside Rizal province as many of them work within the province.
According to LLDA general manager Manda, many of the informal settlers have formed “neighborhood associations" that lobby to remain in the area.
Wilmen Dionisio, a 43-year-old father of three who has been living in one of the floodway slums for nearly seven years, said informal settlers will refuse to move if the relocation sites will not come with livelihood opportunities.
“Yung kabuhayan nila dito sa Taytay e (Their livelihoods are here in Taytay)," he said, adding that his wife runs a store in a nearby talipapa (small wet market).
Aside from many informal settlers’ refusal to leave, the usual budgetary shortfalls also prevent local governments and national agencies from implementing the removal of structures impeding the flow of water along the floodway.
Ilagan said Cainta’s short-term plan is to assist the relocation of those who want to go back to their respective provinces through the "Balik Probinsya Program," while the long-term plan is to relocate other informal settlers to another site.
Ilagan said his office has already acquired a list of those who want to be relocated, which it has submitted to the Rizal provincial government. He said he has also discussed the matter with Vice President Noli de Castro, who is the concurrent chair of the Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council.
"But right now the local government of Cainta has no definite place yet because of the funding problem," Ilagan said. "It requires a huge budget. The local government cannot achieve that alone."
Manda said that while local government units should be at the forefront of relocation plans, the magnitude of the problem calls for national agencies such as the LLDA and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to provide assistance.
Manda said the LLDA has been talking to the Laguna provincial government to transfer some residents to the eastern part of the province.
"Ang amin is an experimental model ng relocation with a watershed bamboo forest program with a livelihood component," Manda said.
Due to the budget constraints, however, the LLDA can only relocate about 50 families, Manda said, adding that moving 50 families alone can cost at least P5 million. With a total of more than 25,000 families along the floodway, the LLDA’s effort would barely make a dent.
The issues that hound the so-called “informal settlements" along the Manggahan Floodway – lack of money, will, and cooperation -- are similar to those that prevent quick solutions for other communities living illegally in hazardous areas like the space along rail tracks or the slopes of an active volcano.
But the thousands of families living here are unique. For their continued stay along the floodway endangers not only them. At risk are also the millions who depend on this vital piece of infrastructure to protect them the next time an enormous volume of water rushing down the Marikina River needs space to flow. -GMANews.TV
A dense community on the west bank of the Manggahan Floodway in Rizal province is still half-submerged in water. Joe Galvez
One month after Ondoy dumped a record amount of rainfall on Metro Manila and its environs, Sarah and her family are like the untold thousands still far from recovering from the storm.
But in a way that could compound their misery, the Hernandez family and their neighbors are different from other victims. Living along the Manggahan Floodway, one of the biggest flood control projects in the country, they are also being blamed as culprits for the most devastating flood the metropolis has ever seen.
An estimated 25,000 houses are situated along the nine-kilometer-long Manggahan Floodway, a man-made canal that stretches from a sharp bend in the Marikina River to Laguna Lake.
At its full capacity, the floodway could have channeled more of the overflow of the Marikina River and perhaps minimized the flooding that killed dozens and devastated property in low-lying Marikina City and the communities on both sides of the floodway.
But the illegal settlements along the floodway severely constricted the movement of water, according to officials and engineers interviewed for this report.
Originally 260 meters wide, the floodway was narrowed down to only 220 meters because of the rows of houses built along its edges, according to Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) general manager Edgardo Manda.
"That slows down the water coming from Marikina River because of structures on both sides of the [floodway]," Manda said. "So yung velocity niya bumabagal (So the velocity of the water slows down)."
According to UP engineering professor Dr. Guillermo Tabios III, head of the UP National Hydraulic Research Center, the Manggahan Floodway was designed to handle 2,900 cubic meters per second of water flow.
At the height of 'Ondoy,' the overflow from Marikina River could have been channeled through the Manggahan Floodway and out to Laguna Lake. But illegal settlers are being blamed for obstructing the channel and causing the water to breach the banks and flood adjacent communities. Google Earth/Photos by Joe Galvez and Mark Merueñas
Even though about 3,000 cubic meters per second flowed from the Marikina River at the height of 'Ondoy', Tabios believes the floodway would not have overflowed had there been no informal settlers.
"Sa Manggahan kaya sana ang 2,900 or 3,000 pero nag-overflow siya dahil sa informal settlers (Manggahan could've carried 2,900 or even 3,000 cubic meters per second of water flow, but it overflowed because of the informal settlers)," Tabios said.
"Definitely it (informal settlers) reduced its capacity such that the effect has really raised the water by one to two meters," he said.
Traversing Pasig, Cainta, and Taytay, the floodway was built by the Department of Public Works and Highways in the 1980s as a showcase flood control project. But the devastating floods in those densely populated communities, in addition to Marikina, are damning proof that the floodway utterly failed to do its job. With less space in the floodway, water quickly breached its banks.
Blaming the floodway settlers is easy, but finding a solution so that the flooding won’t be repeated is making officials scratch their heads and blame the settlers again.
Cainta Mayor Mon Ilagan said that while his municipality—which he said includes 80 percent of the area occupied by the floodway—has short-term and long-term relocation plans, some residents don’t want to be relocated outside Rizal province as many of them work within the province.
According to LLDA general manager Manda, many of the informal settlers have formed “neighborhood associations" that lobby to remain in the area.
Wilmen Dionisio, a 43-year-old father of three who has been living in one of the floodway slums for nearly seven years, said informal settlers will refuse to move if the relocation sites will not come with livelihood opportunities.
“Yung kabuhayan nila dito sa Taytay e (Their livelihoods are here in Taytay)," he said, adding that his wife runs a store in a nearby talipapa (small wet market).
Aside from many informal settlers’ refusal to leave, the usual budgetary shortfalls also prevent local governments and national agencies from implementing the removal of structures impeding the flow of water along the floodway.
A satellite image from Google Earth shows settlements packed along the entire stretch of the Manggahan Floodway in Rizal province. Photo by Joe Galvez
Ilagan said Cainta’s short-term plan is to assist the relocation of those who want to go back to their respective provinces through the "Balik Probinsya Program," while the long-term plan is to relocate other informal settlers to another site.
Ilagan said his office has already acquired a list of those who want to be relocated, which it has submitted to the Rizal provincial government. He said he has also discussed the matter with Vice President Noli de Castro, who is the concurrent chair of the Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council.
"But right now the local government of Cainta has no definite place yet because of the funding problem," Ilagan said. "It requires a huge budget. The local government cannot achieve that alone."
Manda said that while local government units should be at the forefront of relocation plans, the magnitude of the problem calls for national agencies such as the LLDA and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to provide assistance.
Residents of Brgy. Sta Ana in Taytay, Rizal along the Manggahan Floodway are still coping with the effects of "Ondoy." Joe Galvez
"Ang amin is an experimental model ng relocation with a watershed bamboo forest program with a livelihood component," Manda said.
Due to the budget constraints, however, the LLDA can only relocate about 50 families, Manda said, adding that moving 50 families alone can cost at least P5 million. With a total of more than 25,000 families along the floodway, the LLDA’s effort would barely make a dent.
The issues that hound the so-called “informal settlements" along the Manggahan Floodway – lack of money, will, and cooperation -- are similar to those that prevent quick solutions for other communities living illegally in hazardous areas like the space along rail tracks or the slopes of an active volcano.
But the thousands of families living here are unique. For their continued stay along the floodway endangers not only them. At risk are also the millions who depend on this vital piece of infrastructure to protect them the next time an enormous volume of water rushing down the Marikina River needs space to flow. -GMANews.TV
