EDITORIAL - Prepare for the floods

With most local government executives already officially proclaimed by the Commission on Elections, it’s never too early to prepare for a likely major problem in the coming months: torrential rains and destructive floods. Weather experts warned the other day that La Niña, a phenomenon that brings unusually heavy rains in this part of the planet, is expected to hit the country by July after a long and exceptionally warm summer.

Re-elected local officials in particular should remember the cataclysmic floods spawned by storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” last year, aggravated by poor warning systems in the release of water from dams in Luzon. Around Laguna de Bay, in the lakeside communities of Metro Manila and Laguna, floods lingered for months, lasting until well past Christmas Day in the worst hit areas. 

Many of the solutions are costly and will take years to implement, but short-term measures can ease the disastrous impact of flooding. Dam executives have presumably fine-tuned warning systems for releasing water. The elections are over and local executives can take political risks by clearing waterways of illegal settlers. Police and barangay officials are required by law to keep out such settlers, especially from areas where shanties are at risk of being carried away by floods.

Last Thursday, the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission reported finding garbage floating once again along a portion of the river that had already been dredged, in Quiapo, Manila. The PRRC had hoped to finish its Pasig dredging project, which has so far resulted in the retrieval of 2.2 million cubic meters of contaminated riverbed sediment, by July, way ahead of the original target of December 2010.

Dismayed by the return of garbage in Quiapo, PRRC members emphasized that the river cleanup would not succeed without public cooperation. The success will also depend on political will. Local executives must not wait for the first destructive flooding to act.