When the rain starts to fall, the sound of it is not the only thing one could hear. As it continues and turns to a heavy pour, with the water that rapidly rises, steadily flowing into one’s home, the beating heart could also be heard. Each beat louder than the other, as one’s worry starts to be heightened, the flooding continues, drowning out these sounds.
One of the possibly most common problems in a community, specifically in a barangay, would be the clogged drainage canals. In a country that experiences typhoons from A to Z, flooding is definitely an issue, with the clogged drainage canals being attributed to be one of its causes. Back in 2009, the United Nations even released an article stressing the need for the government to make greater investments in disaster prevention as poor drainage systems aggravated the impacts of typhoons. This was during the time when typhoon Ondoy devastated the country, years have already passed but it seemed that the problem is still relevant and is still needed to be addressed starting on the smallest scales such as in each barangay.
Conducting a survey to residents and barangay officials in Barangay Longos of Balagtas, Bulacan, the common issue mentioned among the answers is about the clogged drainage canals. As the rainy days are nearing the doorstep, the consequences of this issue is greatly felt as the canals are easily flooded even with a little bit of rain.
The usual or normal state of drainage canals in Atienza St. and Galvez St.
The flooded state of drainage canals in Galvez Street after a light to moderate rain on May 21 and 22, 2022 .
“Kahit ‘di bagyo, may tubig, puno na yung kanal kaya labas na [ang abot ng tubig] ‘pagka puno na yung kanal, may tubig na yung kalsada eh,” said Elaine Ortega, a 31 year old resident in Longos sharing the current situation of the drainage canals near her home.
This matter is not a situation where the canals are simply clogged just like how it was years before, underlying this problem are a number of reasons that must be uncovered to ponder on and take into account when making plans to solve this problem.
Build, Build, Build and Tuck the Problem Under
The state of the streets in the barangay is not the same as before. Some roads were fixed and made higher and a number of houses were also built.
This can be seen as evidence of progress, however, when looked at the other side of the coin, it is one of the reasons behind the issue on drainage canals.
Barangay Kagawad Alex Rivera explained the situation on this matter.
"Isa pa nga na problema ng kanal natin, [dahil sa] mga concreting na bagong ginawa para bang lumiit [ang kanal] sa pagkakagawa," said Igg. Rivera describing the cause. "Hindi ko sinasabing hindi perpekto parang kulang sa [gawa]. Gagawin ng kalahati, yung kalahati hindi, pero doon [sa kanal] ang bagsakan ng tubig."
He went on to explain that to alleviate the problem with drainage canals, when doing projects, the canal should be worked on first before working on the roads. Because what happens is that the system of making the roads higher then leaving the canals behind without fixing it together, keeps on repeating. Repeating this cycle meant that as long as the canals are left behind whenever building or fixing infrastructures during a project, the problem with drainage canals would just continue to worsen.
"Simula nung marami nang nagtayo ng mga apartment, tapos malaking factor din yung nagtayo ng riles, itong train, mas naging… nag overflow siya [kanal]. Pero dati 'di ganyan yan, ngayon mas madali na siyang [kanal] mapuno kasi nga parang bumaba yung lupa dito." Resident Elaine Ortega pertaining to the ongoing construction of railways in the barangay that contributed on the overflowing of drainage canals.
Not the Trash Bin to be Used
Wastes clogging the drainage were also identified as the reason for the issue of drainage canals.
"Sa aking palagay ang dahilan ng pagbara ng kanal ay ang mga basura na itinatapon ng mga tao dito. Sa pagiging iresponsable ng mga tao hindi nagagamit ng tama ang mga kanal," 20 year old resident, Hazel Doldig said sharing her sentiment on the causes on the issue at hand.
The people's responsibility plays a part in this problem too. If the people would not care to follow where to properly throw their waste, then it certainly contributes in blocking the flow of drainage canals. As the wastes irresponsibly thrown, keep on being piled up, the said issue would also worsen.
"Hindi naman karamihan satin ay naglilinis, may [sariling] street… siya ay may [sariling] street [na lilinisin] . Kunyari nasa Atienza siya, nasa San Gabriel siya," Igg. Rivera said recounting how some streets are being left behind in being cleaned as some residents would only focus on their own. "Natatambakan ng dumi [ang kanal], nahahangin yung pagkain ng mga bata [sa kanal]."
Responsibility to one's waste is needed. A simple act of proper waste disposal already contributes in alleviating the problem.
Taking a Step Forward, One Clean at a time
In confronting the issue on drainage canals, the top recommendation from the citizens is for the barangay to have a regular clean up for the canals.
“Dapat may regular sila na linis,” Resident Ortega said. “Kasi sa dami ng bata, talagang ‘di mo na maiiwasan na huwag magtapon diyan ng basura. So ang best way na lang, maglinis kahit twice a month, kasi napupuno din eh.”
She explained that when the waste is collected, the flow of water there is much better. The residents’ voluntary cleaning in their own areas are not enough because they could not collect nor have the proper equipment in cleaning for the drainage canals.
Some people may have been irresponsible in their waste as some officers have cited, however, there are still residents who do their part in the community and voluntarily move in helping to solve the problem. As they do their part, it is the time for the barangay officers to do their part.
“Sa aking palagay dapat na magkaroon ng programa ang barangay na naglalayon na masolusyunan ang problema sa mga pagbabara ng kanal. At higit sa lahat dapat ipakita din nila ang kalagahan ng mga kanal sa pamamagitan ng pagsasagawa ng mga layunin na kanilang ipapatupad sa kanilang mga katapat na kanal o walk the talk.” Resident Doldig stated, calling for the officials to introduce programs to address the issue.
On the other hand, while there is still no concrete project or program for the problem with drainage canals, Barangay Captain Rodolfo Ortega stated that there are workers who do clean ups every now and then.
“Sa ngayon, pangatlong araw na tayong nagpapalinis ng ating barangay, pangatlong araw na sila. Kumuha na tayo ng limang tao para sila na ang maglilinis.” Brgy. Captain. Ortega shared on the day of the interview, May 25, 2022, that there were people who are assigned to clean the barangay.
He said that these people were supposed to be paid 400 Php per day as assigned by the Municipal Office of Balagtas, but in this case, they raised their compensation to 600 Php per day.
This action is already a step forward, however, this is still subject for improvement. Just like what the residents have recommended, it would be better to have programs for the regular clean up, as some of the residents did not even notice that there were already people doing this job. This action is just a first aid, but progress is needed and bigger steps are needed to be taken to properly address the problem.
A Draft for the Future
The issue at hand is truly a pressing concern that needs to be addressed. Taking such simple steps of irregular clean up with a small group of people is not enough. Plans to solve this issue are needed to check if the officials are doing their duty of taking the residents’ concerns seriously.
When asked about the plans to resolve this issue, Kap. Ortega mentioned that they are starting with managing the waste segregation as they put the problem of waste as the primary cause of this issue.
“Sa Friday, mag-aano kami ng session ng barangay ng Sangguniang Barangay para gumawa ng… ng resolusyon para sa pag segregate ng basura ng ating barangay. Segregation ang topic ng aming meeting, [o] session.” Brgy. Captain Ortega said.
Barangay Kagawad Eliseo Ortega on the other hand, shared that his request to the governor of cementing the pathway along the Galvez St., starting from Longos Elementary School, is already approved and it might start in the next few months.
“Pagkatapos siguro ng buwan na ito, baka simulan na iyon. Kasabay ng kalsada na iyon, yung drainage.” Igg. Ortega mentioned. This proposal made by him was in parallel with the said recommendation of Igg. Rivera that drainage canals should be fixed together when the roads are also worked on.
Projects proposed for the drainage canals such as building a new one were already submitted to the higher ups, as according to Igg. Rivera, what they are waiting for is approval to proceed.
On the matter if these planned projects were a long term solution for this issue, the barangay officials answer were “no.” These are short term solutions but what the barangay officials could offer as they say is to continue to monitor the issue. Continue observing the state of the drainage canals and come up with solutions when issues arise.
As the rain starts to die down and heartbeats start to settle down. A moment of relief could be felt when the flooding would stop. But that would be just for that day, how about for the next rainy days? Or when typhoons hit the country? Those worries would just repeat and before we know it, it would be normalized to us, which should not be. Clogged drainage is not just a one-time problem just as the plans for it are not for the long term. Thus, it should not be simply disregarded and must be confronted especially when it affects the state of living of each person in the community. Confront the roots of it, listen to the people’s recommendations and act on the plans drafted dedicated to it. It may seem a lot of work, but as the ones seated in power, it is their duty to lend their ears and work on it for the betterment of the community.
Reference
United Nations. (2009). Lack of drainage systems exacerbated impact of deadly typhoon in the Philippines . United Nations. https://news.un.org/en/story/2009/09/315662-lack-drainage-systems-exacerbated-impact-deadly-typhoon-philippines-un
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