70% OF CEBU DRAINAGE CLOGGED WITH TRASH
When a heavy downpour occurs, Ana (not her real name) finds herself clutching a prayer booklet, as their family shanty made of light materials battles the rain and strong current of the nearby Kinalumsan River in Barangay Mambaling. The river is among the bodies of water in Cebu City known to swell at dangerous levels during heavy rains.
Although several clearing operations in the area have been conducted by the Cebu City Government, illegal settlers continue to build or return to their homes in this high-risk zone.
In 2015, around 172 residents in flood-prone areas were evacuated by the City Government after a heavy rain caused several rivers to overflow. Some 109 of them lived near the Kinalumsan River; 49 were from Barangay Tisa while 14 lived in Barangay Punta Princesa.
Ana’s family was among those evacuated that returned as soon as the weather improved.
The Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) says 2,171 families still live along riverbanks and/or waterways. But DWUP chief Meriam Consuelo Fernandez estimates that 300 of these families will be relocated within the year.
“We are targeting the rest of the families next year,” she said.
The relocation is an offshoot of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) flood control projects for Metro Cebu, which involve the widening of rivers, revetment works to prevent erosion, and construction of diversion channels and drainage mains.
As early as 2013, the City Government had noted that the width of seven rivers in the city—Bulacao, Kinalumsan, Guadalupe, Lahug, Mabolo and Mahiga Rivers, and Estero Parian—had been reduced, some by more than half their original size, which is why they overflowed during heavy rains.
The DWUP says 360 structures will be affected by the Metro Cebu flood control and drainage improvement project, of which 175 are in Mambaling near the Kinalumsan River, 133 in Brgy. Pasil along the Guadalupe River, and 52 in Brgy. Ermita near the Guadalupe River.
Councilor Jerry Guardo, head of the committee on infrastructure, said P140 million from the National Housing Authority coursed through the DPWH has been set aside for the relocation of the families.
River rehab
The flood control projects, which involve the rehabilitation of rivers in Cebu and Mandaue Cities, are already on their first phase.
The DPWH awarded projects worth P844.92 million to two contractors. The first project, allotted P684 million for civil works under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2016, was awarded to ARN Builders. Phase 1 of this project costing P394.91 million involves Cebu City rivers Bulacao, Kinalumsan, Guadalupe and Lahug, and Subangdaku River in Mandaue City.
Also under under GAA 2016 are separate flood control projects for Subangdaku River (P82.3 million); Kinalumsan River (P65.4 million); Tejero Channel (P89.8 million); and Tipolo River (P51.4 million).
The second project is under GAA 2017, where ME Sicat Construction Inc. and MSB Vitug Construction are undertaking the P160.89 million revetment works in the rivers Subangdaku (P36.5 million); Lahug (44.3 million); Guadalupe (P40 million); and Bulacao (P40 million). There is a separate budget of P230 million for right-of-way acquisition.
While these projects await completion, Guardo said the City is taking other steps to address flooding. Established last April to address floods in the city, Guardo's brainchild, the Menos Baha Task Force, declogs and desilts drainage systems. Identified as problem areas are 22 villages: T. Padilla, Tinago, Tejero, Day-as, Sambag I, Parian, Sto. Niño, Ermita, Kalubihan, Pahina Central, Carreta, Pasil, Suba, Sawang Calero, Duljo-Fatima, Mambaling, Poblacion Pardo, Tisa, San Nicolas Proper, Basak San Nicolas, Kinasang-an and Cogon Pardo.
“Practically, the most affected areas are the lowland barangays because the runoff water ends there. That’s where we’re concentrating. This is part of our pre-disaster preparedness plan,” Guardo said.
Menos Baha is also tasked to build drainage systems in flood-prone areas, repair drainage lines and manholes, clean and deepen creeks, and advocate proper waste disposal. It is supervised by the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office and the Department of Engineering and Public Works.
Aside from the task force, the City Government has created 40 rubbish or silt traps to prevent trash from clogging the drainage lines.
Guardo said among the factors behind flooding in the city is that around 70 percent of the drainage lines have been clogged by trash.
“Once the lines are blocked, water will begin to back-flow, which results in flooding,” he said.
But even with all these measures, the city's flood problem will not be fully addressed without general public discipline.
Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) head Nida Cabrera said: “The continuous improper throwing of garbage, especially in bodies of water, is a factor in flooding. That’s why we keep on conducting orientations on the need to reduce plastic usage. Illegal settlers are our main concern.”
For instance, Ana’s neighbors, vendor Eva and her laborer-husband have a combined daily income of P500, just enough to feed their family of four. They cannot afford to have their rotting tin roof repaired, let alone buy a single trash bin.
“We just throw our trash directly out the window. The river just washes it away," said Eva in Cebuano.
Trash traps
Caberera said this practice harms aquatic life and contributes to flooding, so the CCENRO has installed bio-fences in coastal barangays starting with Sawang Calero.
Made of plastic water bottles donated by hotels and restaurants, the bio-fence is submerged underwater as a garbage-collecting barrier. In its first two days of operation on Sept. 17-18, the bio-fence in Sawang Calero collected 11.9 tons of garbage. With the Department of Public Services (DPS), CCENRO will soon expand the project to other areas, like Mambaling, Tinago, Tejero, Ermita, Suba, and in the city’s rivers.
Grace Luardo, head of the City’s “Basura Mo, Sardinas Ko” program, said they distributed 1,800 cans of sardines to 39 street dwellers and out-of-school youth on Sept. 17 to 18 in exchange for the trash they took out of the bio-fence.
Initially, the program was introduced to improve solid waste collection in the city’s interior areas. The DPS, however, has decided to use it also to clear clogged waterways.
The P5 million budget for the purchase of the sardines was taken from the City’s accelerated social amelioration program funds.
Since its launch last year, nearly 400,000 cans of sardines have been distributed by the DPS to 11 barangays. Close to 70,000 residents received cans of sardines in exchange for their sacks of garbage.
Plastic ban
Cabrera, though, believes that having a total plastic ban in the city would be the largest leap towards an effective flood control measure.
City Ordinance (CO) 2343, which regulates the sale and use of plastic shopping bags every Saturday, was passed by the City Council in 2012. A year later, it was expanded to include Wednesdays.
A penalty of P1,000 is imposed on first-time offenders, while habitual violators pay fines ranging from P3,000 to P5,000 along with a recommendation for suspension to sell at the market.
Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia has proposed that the plastic ban be in effect daily, saying the “irresponsible” disposal of plastic bags had clogged the city’s drainage system.
“If not a total plastic ban, it would also help if manufacturers increased their prices to at least minimize plastic usage,” said Cabrera.
Some 160 persons were apprehended for violating CO 2343 from January to August. Those often caught violating the ordinance are market vendors, Cabrera said.
The United Nations Environment Program says over 60 countries have introduced bans and levies to curb single-use plastic waste.
Catchments
To collect runoff water and prevent floods, City Ordinance 2103 or the Rainwater Conservation Ordinance of Cebu City requires houses and buildings—subdivisions, commercial, industrial and government structures—with project cost exceeding P250,000 to build rainwater tanks or cisterns on their properties. It authorizes the City’s Office of the Building Official to withhold the building permit or certificate of occupancy of owners who fail to do so.
“All buildings constructed after the passage of the ordinance have been compliant because occupancy is prohibited unless they can install a rainwater catchment,” said Building Official Engr. Josefa Ylanan.