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MARIKINA CITY (SDN) — It’s the rainy season this year, and floods follow rainfall.
Many parts of Metro Manila are easily inundated, perhaps portions of the Philippines are already below sea level, or flood solutions are not adequate, or ineffective in spite of billions of pesos that only went to the drain (pun not intended).
Try going around Metro Manila when waters from the sky are falling and filling every space and crevice of communities. That would practically be an impossible mission a la Tom Cruise’s blockbuster “Mission Impossible” movies.
One of the local government units (LGUs) and populations that suffer and endure floodings during the rainy season is the City of Marikina now under the leadership of its first time chief executive, Mayor Maam Teodoro.
On July 9, Mayor Teodoro and Marikina’s 2nd District Rep. Marcy Teodoro hosted and tendered a lunch and a tour of the Shoe Museum (formerly Footwear Museum) of Marikina for at least 30 reporters who cover the National and Metro Manila beats.
Congressman Teodoro toured the media members at the Shoe Museum, which contains, among others, shoes of some Philippine Presidents, and the 3,000 pairs of shoes of former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos, comprised of Marikina- and foreign-made.
The congressman explained the 15 steps that go on in making shoes, the materials needed, and the equipment used.
At Marikina Hotel, Mayor Teodoro obliged with a brief “ambush” interview, fielding questions on the LGU’s readiness and the citizens’ preparedness as the wet season rolls on inexorably.
Remember that the Philippines is visited by more or less 20 typhoons a year, including the National Capital Region (NCR), disrupting lives, classes, business, day to day routines, damaging and even destroying infrastructures, causing millions and millions worth of resources.
Reporters asked the mayor about the city and its residents in relation with expected floodings as the rainy season gets underway. Consider that the city is traversed by the 21-meters deep Marikina River, which in the past had overflowed its banks on either side.
“Handa naman tayo. Noong nakaraang linggo umuulan-ulan na. Kaya talagang pinagtuunan natin ng pansin (We are ready. Last week it was already raining, so we really focused on it),” she assures.
“When it comes to storms, typhoons, we already know what to do. But we still try to see if our equipment is ready, the same with looking after the whole city.”
Evacuees must not go hungry in evacuation centers
Presently, the mayor said the Marikina River is well within the normal level of 11.9 as of July 9. She added the river is around 21 meters deep which give it a large carrying capacity.
Dredging of the river and declogging of drainage are continuing in low-lying areas, she pointed out.
Mayor Teodoro said the citizens of Marikina are “well-trained, they already know what to do. We constantly give live feeds (online), so our citizens actually see what’s going on.”
She said the city has a system of alerting the population, serene being used during the rainy season. When the first alarm goes off, they know they have to get ready and stay alert. The second alarm gives the message that those in the low-lying areas must start evacuating, and the rest of the alarms go on with levels of actions intensifying.
Mayor Teodoro assured as well that equipment and food stocks are already prepositioned so they can be deployed as quickly as possible when the time comes.
She said former mayor now-Marikina congressman Marcy Teodoro wanted that evacuees should not get hungry in the city’s evacuation centers. — EDD K. Usman (/)