Roxas Boulevard turns into 'a sea of litter'

MANILA, Philippines - Due to heavy rains and strong winds brought by typhoon “Kiko,” Roxas Boulevard turned into “a sea of litter,” a Manila City government official said yesterday.

City public services department chief Carlos Baltazar said wind, rain and high tide combined to cause the waters of Manila Bay to rise beyond the seawall and deposit garbage onto the sidewalk and the road itself.

“The stretch of Roxas Boulevard, particularly that of from Padre Faura to the United States embassy, virtually became a sea of litter, making it nearly impassable for motorists,” Baltazar said.

He said Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered him to mobilize a team to clear the area of trash. According to Baltazar, the mounds of garbage were too much for the sweepers to handle and he had to utilize a payloader to clear the streets.

Baltazar said discarded slippers comprised a significant portion of the collected garbage, which mostly came from Cavite and Parañaque.

Meanwhile, traffic slowed to crawl from the Manila City Hall up to the Welcome Rotonda yesterday as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) laid hot asphalt in the Lagusnilad passage.

DPWH workers and equipment occupied almost the entire span of the Lagusnilad, leaving only one lane for vehicles to pass through. Commuters complained that a trip from España Boulevard to the Manila City Hall took at least an hour.

They questioned why the DPWH did asphalting work in broad daylight during a heavy downpour, when it can be done at night.

QC, Marikina ready for flooding

The governments of Quezon City and Marikina City have started to prepare in case the southwest monsoon dumps more rains and cause flooding due to the overflowing of the La Mesa Dam and the Marikina River, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said yesterday.

In a bulletin, the NDCC said the Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety has been alerted to continuously monitor the areas that are likely to be affected if the La Mesa Dam overflows. The NDCC named the affected areas as North Fairview, Gulod, San Bartolome and Silangan.

As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, the water level at the La Mesa Dam reached 80.22 meters, compared to its spilling level of 80.15 meters. The Marikina River also overflowed by half a meter after it exceeded its spilling level of 16 meters.

The heavy rains for the past few days have already affected 317 families or 1,578 persons in four villages in Pasig and Marikina, the agency said. They are now being sheltered in evacuation centers.

According to the NDCC operations center, typhoon “Kiko” continues to move towards North Taiwan. As of 10 a.m. yesterday, it was located 620 kilometers northeast of Basco, Batanes, packing maximum sustained wings of 130 kilometers near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kilometers per hour. – With Nestor Etolle, James Mananghaya