QUARANTINED WITH HOWIE SEVERINO

National framework vs. climate change needed to solve flooding —Marikina mayor

The Philippine government must prioritize climate change to finally put an end to the perennial problem of flooding that hounds Marikina and other cities east of Manila, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said Tuesday.

Interviewed on “Quarantined with Howie Severino,” Teodoro said the country needs to improve its “institutional capacity to respond or to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

“I think we should realize that there should be an integrated approach and there should be a national framework in order to put climate change at the forefront of our governance,” Teodoro urged.

The mayor said that the Marikina government alone cannot ease or eradicate the flooding problem since the Marikina River is part of a bigger system.

“We improved on our drainage system, we dredged the river, we have the correct alignment of the river, may easement kami. Pero kung wala naman ganito sa taas, kung ano 'yung nangyari do'n, ang effect, narito sa’min sa downstream community,” he said.

He pointed out that when Marikina gets flooded, so do coastal towns in Rizal and a portion of Quezon City.

In years past, Marikina was known for being one of the areas badly battered by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009.

Last month, Typhoon Ulysses caused widespread flooding that gave Marikina residents flashbacks to their Ondoy ordeals. 

“There should be an analysis, institutional ang approach, long-term ang analysis at intervention na dapat gawin. Hindi pupuwedeng ituro sa isang dahilan lang, e. Very complex problem having a multi-faceted iyong solution natin,” Teodoro said.

The mayor also said bureaucratic bottlenecks were delaying the implementation of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources’ Integrated River Basin Management and Development Master Plan for the Marikina River Basin.

“May mga tinupad naman, may ginawa naman sila… [but] everything is yet to be completed,” he said.

“I think that's the gap that we need to address, 'yung timeline no'ng mga project and programs natin. Ten years is a long period. Dapat mas marami sigurong natatapos pero tingin ko, 'yung bureacratic requirement 'yung nagpapatagal, e.”—Julia Mari Ornedo/LDF, GMA News