By Liza Soriano
MANILA — Senate President Chiz Escudero is seeking an investigation into the severe flooding despite the multibillion-peso allocations every year.
“With Metro Manila now under a state of calamity and the government working to address the damage wrought by Typhoon Carina, we should also determine why—over a decade after Typhoon Ondoy—chronic, severe flooding continues to afflict the nation’s capital,” Escudero pointed out.
Escudero emphasized that this repetitive cycle is a painful reality that cannot be accepted.
“Are we just going to accept this? Will we just accept that when it rains heavily, there will be flooding, and our lives will be paralyzed? What happened to ‘building back better’?” Escudero asked.
The Senate President also called on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to put an end to chronic flooding in Metro Manila.
This call comes after Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon or “habagat” submerged the nation’s capital region, bringing it to a halt.
Senator Imee Marcos expressed her frustration over the flooding in several areas in Metro Manila, noting that there are government funds allocated to address such problems.
“This flood control issue needs to be solved. We’re just at the beginning of the rainy season. It’s only July, and this is our situation,” Marcos said.
“What’s frustrating is that Congress and the Senate have not been lacking in providing funds for flood control. In fact, there’s a P450 billion budget, almost P1.4 billion a day, for flood control across all agencies from the DPWH down. Where did the money go? That’s the question,” she added.
(el Amigo/mnm)
