Around 405 truckloads of garbage that contribute to the clogging of Metro Manila’s esteros and canals each month have made the megacity prone to flooding, Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino said in a press briefing Wednesday.
Speaking at Malacanang, Tolentino said the MMDA went on an “estero blitz” or canal-clearing operation before the rainy season began and removed more than 300 truckloads of garbage. He said, though, that the MMDA could not enter some of the esteros because of “encroachments” and informal settlers.
He said that the 897 kilometers of drainage and 580 kilometers of creeks and canals in Metro Manila are interconnected, meaning clogged arteries make the entire drainage system prone to flooding. Tolentino said planned upgrades to Manila’s flood system will be useless if garbage keeps clogging drains.
The government has been working on relocating around 20,000 informal settlers near Manila Bay and the Pasig River to clear the waterways, a process that Communications Secretary Ramon Carandang said should be done by yearend.
He added the national government will take charge of relocating the informal settlers to National Housing Authority sites but local governments will be held accountable if new settlers set up along the waterways.
At the same briefing, Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson gave a briefing on a long-term flood management plan for Metro Manila. [That plan is here.] The plan, which is expected done by 2035, includes upgrades to drainage mains and pumping stations and has already started.
Singson said siltation of the Marikina River and the lack of a long-term flood plan for Metro Manila can be attributed to “decades of kapabayaan (inaction).”
Heavy rains and the floods they bring have crippled Metro Manila in recent weeks.
