Rodriguez mayor says residents need to build 2-storey houses to cope with floods

Rodriguez, Rizal, Mayor Ronnie Evangelista on Monday proposed that residents of is building two-storey houses as the town's topography is a significant factor contributing to the flooding in the area.

In a “24 Oras” report by Mark Salazar, Evangelista pointed out that the town's topography naturally acts like a funnel for water overflowing from surrounding rivers, so residents have no choice but to adjust.

“Ang usapan namin dito, sila na mismo ang magpapagawa ng bahay nila gagawin nilang two-storey,” Evangelista said.

(Our agreement here is that they will build their houses themselves and make them two-storey structures.)

“May pera na rin ‘yang mga ‘yan. Kasi, alam ko kung gaano karami to? Two-thousand plus to. Hindi kakayanin ng LGU (local government unit),” he added.

(They have money for that. Because do you know how many they are? There are over two thousand of them. The LGU cannot shoulder that.)

However, in response, some residents argued that they cannot afford the expenses required to construct a second floor.

“Paano po yung mga mahihirap gaya ko? Single parent ako. Hindi po kaya,” a resident said.

(How about poor people like me? I'm a single parent. We can't afford it.)

During the onslaught of the Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) in Rodriguez, several areas were submerged in deep floodwaters.

In video footage captured last Saturday at around 8 p.m., a vehicle was recorded being battered by flash floods, as several residents admitted they did not expect the sudden surge of water. The vehicle eventually overturned and fell into a nearby ravine.

In a livestream by YouScooper Lorely Bautista, she could be heard calling to be rescued and asking for help as her area in Barangay San Isidro was inundated with floodwaters.

She was with her two children at the time, aged 6 and one. Because rescuers were unable to reach them, they had to improvise an evacuation route using a rope.

Valley and quarry

In Salazar's report, Rodriguez residents are already accustomed to flooding. Many of them simply survive, clean up the damage left behind by the flood, and then prepare for the next possible inundation.

In Pag-asa Village, Barangay San Jose, thick mud, totally damaged houses, and ruined belongings were left behind by the severe flooding.

“Itong lugar na to, bahain talaga to, sir. Pero pinasok lang namin to kasi wala kaming matirahan,” a resident shared.

(This place is really flood-prone, sir. But we settled here because we had nowhere else to live.)

According to Evangelista, among the factors behind the flooding in their area is topography, as the town acts like a funnel for major river systems that flood the area whenever they overflow.

“‘Yung main river natin, which is the Marikina River, ang dumadaloy diyan [ay] from Buso-Buso River and from Quezon, Tayabas River. So ‘yung dalawa na ‘yan nag-fuse and then dito nga ilalabas ‘yan sa Wawa,” Evangelista explained.

(Our main river, which is the Marikina River, receives flow from the Buso-Buso River and the Tayabas River in Quezon. So those two merge, and the water is discharged right here in Wawa.)

“Meron pang isang river na galing ng Puray, dito rin babagsak. And another river downstream, andon naman ‘yung Manggahan River. So, Montalban ay basically source ng tubig papuntang Metro Manila,” he added.

(There is another river coming from Puray that also drains here, and another downstream river, which is the Manggahan River. So Montalban is basically a source of water flowing toward Metro Manila.)

Another factor is runoff water coming from nearby mountains.

The mayor argued, however, that quarrying activities in the mountains do not directly cause the flooding.

“Yeah, contributor ang quarry sa ganito. Unang-una, may putik—pero sasabihin mo sa pagbaha? Even without quarry kasi binabaha naman kami,” Evangelista said.

(Yeah, quarrying is a contributor to things like this. First of all, there is mud—but as for causing the flooding itself? Even without quarrying, we still get flooded.)

“I’m not trying to protect quarry ano, siyempre nakakasira ng kalikasan, nakakasira ng ganito, what not. Pero kahit wala pa ‘yung quarry noon, river quarry lang dati kasi eh, ay may baha pa rin naman dito,” he added.

(I'm not trying to protect quarrying—of course it damages nature and all that. But even before quarrying started—when there was only river quarrying back then—we already had floods here.) — Lyjah Tiffany Bonzo/BAP, GMA News