Rizal mayors seek cleanup of waterways to declog Laguna Lake

Local officials in Rizal province urged concerned agencies on Tuesday to start clearing all outlets of Laguna de Bay to ease flooding in coastal towns around the lake. During a meeting of the Rizal Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, representatives of affected towns, led by Taytay Mayor Joric Gacula, said the water level at Laguna de Bay remain higher than normal because the waterways, especially the Napindan and Manggahan flood channels, are clogged. "Water lilies and illegally parked barges have adversely affected the natural flow of water in these waterways," Gacula said. The lake’s floodwaters rose on Sept. 26 after an unusually high volume of rainfall caused by tropical storm "Ondoy." Hundreds of thousands of residents along lakeshore towns of Rizal and Metro Manila have been rendered homeless as a result of the flood, notably Pasig City, Taytay, Cainta, Tagiug, Pateros, Muntinlupa. Gacula said once the waterways are declogged, the water level of the lake could normalize in 10 days. According to the Department of Public Works and Highways, the water level of the Laguna de Bay appears so much higher than that of Manila Bay. Laguna de Bay empties its waters into the Manila Bay via a number of channels, notably the Pasig River. Gacula said they have also sought the help of the DPWH in hastening the completion of the road dike, a multi-billion peso national government project dating back in 1998. "With those dikes in place, there is very little chance of the Laguna de Bay water submerging our densely populated barangays, as what happened today," he said. Among those present during the meeting were DPWH district engineer Edgardo Peralta and representatives from other national, provincial and local government agencies and the police. - GMANews.TV