President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday urged Filipinos to dispose their trash properly.
According to the President, wastes must be disposed of properly to keep the country’s drainage system free from clogging to prevent flooding, especially in Metro Manila.
“Nagkaproblema lang. Sana matuto naman ang tao. Huwag kayong nagtatapon ng basura dahil ‘yung basura, ‘yun ang nagbara doon sa mga pump natin kaya hindi kasing effective na puwede,” President Marcos said during an interview with the media in Malabon following his ocular inspection of affected areas in Metro Manila.
During his ocular inspection, the President learned there are several pumping stations in Metro Manila. Navotas has 81 pumping stations while Valenzuela has 32. “So, marami na ‘yung pumping station. Pero talaga you have to put it (trash) somewhere,” he said.
“Twelve o’clock noon (Wednesday) nag-high tide. Nagsabay-sabay. Malakas ang ulan tapos nag-high tide. So, at least now, I’m very clear of what the situation is. That due to this (indiscrimate garbage disposal), flooding occurred,” the President lamented.
“I’ll be going to inspect all the other areas when we can travel to see what else is needed in the other parts of the country that suffered flooding,” he added.
The President said that he went around several areas in Metro Manila to personally inspect the situation.
“And I was right. It’s really different listening — reading a piece of paper than actually seeing it and seeing what people have to go through,” he said.
He said the city of Valenzuela has the usual problem. “Talagang (catch) basin ‘yan. Laging nababaha ang Valenzuela. But marami na silang flood control pero nasapawan (overwhelmed) itong — sa dami ng tubig,” the President said.
President Marcos said the government needs to review the designs of some of the country’s flood control programs.
“The amount of water was not as bad as (tropical storm) Ondoy. But the effects [of Typhoon Carina] were greater than Ondoy. Mas malaki ang baha. Mas maraming nabaha na lugar kaysa panahon ng Ondoy,” Marcos said referring to the tropical cyclone that inundated Metro Manila in 2009.
Aside from poor trash disposal, climate change also had to do with the flooding, the President said.
“Mas marami tayong flood control ngayon kaysa noon pero (dahil sa) climate change. This is what the effects of climate change are,” he said.
Another reason was an accident that occurred earlier. “Now, what we have seen is that one of the most important parts that nagkaproblema was that navigation gate that we went to, na nasira because binangga ng isang barko. Basta’t hindi sumunod sa instruction. Sinira niya,” Marcos said.
“That is why Navotas is still 80 percent under water. Malabon, the same. Well, Valenzuela also,” the President lamented. “So, we have to really look into that… Iyong pumping stations natin marami na.”
President Marcos has ordered concerned government agencies to distribute relief goods to all affected areas nationwide.
“Now, when I get back to the office, I will be putting together — now that I know what the situation is, where the areas are that need the most. We’ll be putting together already the [relief] packages for the LGUs (local government units), here in NCR (National Capital Region), not only NCR, in Region 3, in CALABARZON, NCR,” he said.
The President also ordered the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to immediately release the funds for the relief and assistance to the victims of Carina.
“Marami nang tumawag sa akin kaninang (Thursday) umaga pa. So, we will put that all together so that we can go to DBM and tell them to release this already para magamit na ng ating mga local officials,” President Marcos said.
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