Marcos seeks national flood control plan

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Friday called for a national flood control plan in the aftermath of the catastrophic floods brought about by Super Typhoon Carina and Southwest Monsoon.

“Let's prepare for the next flood. This is the first typhoon during La Niña season, we have a long way to go. We have to prepare for that. There are places that used to be marked safe from floods, but it is not the case now. That's what we have to figure out, bakit nagbago 'yan (what changed),” Marcos said during a situation briefing in Mauban, Quezon.

“Saan nanggaling ang tubig, saan dumaan? Anong gagawin natin para harangin 'yan, at least impound, whatever kung ano ba ;yung magiging plano. Ang flood control, ang tubig hindi nangingilala ng boundary, kaya ang flood control has to be a big plan. There has to be a national [flood control] plan,” he added.

(Where did the water come from? Where did it flow? What do we do to stop it, at least impound it, whatever it is that we need to plan. Water does not recognize boundaries.)

The President said flood control projects cannot be limited to three to five regions.

“Hindi pwedeng isang bayan lang dito, isang bayan lang doon. That's why we are trying to assess what are the significant changes, because all our flood-control projects are projects that are in response to ‘yung mga flooded noon, e nagbago na,” he said.

(We can’t pick something for one town here, for another town there. Our current flood control projects were in response to flooded areas in the past, and those areas have changed.)

“We have to understand the flow of the water and how to somehow manage it so that it does not flood into the productive areas, the households, the residential communities. You cannot do this in one province, one town. This plan will span regions,” he added.

In a separate statement, the President's cousin and Speaker Martin Romualdez tasked the House committee on appropriations to immediately fund repairs for the Tangos-Tanza Navigational Gate in Navotas City which was damaged last June and has worsened flooding in Metro Manila during Super Typhoon Carina.

“We must immediately allocate the necessary funds to repair and reinforce the gate to withstand future typhoons and protect our communities,” Romualdez said in a statement.

“The President has rightly pointed out the urgent need to fix the Navotas floodgate. We in the House will ensure the necessary funds are available without delay,” he added.—AOL, GMA Integrated News