Flood Control Planning Workshop Held

P375-M Needed to Ease Floods; City May Also Avail Loan

By Carla N. Cañet

The flood control planning workshop has been concluded yesterday and they got the real picture of what should be done to address the flooding problem in Bacolod City.

They need more or less P375 million to implement the necessary programs on flood control, solid waste management and housing and resettlement.

Mrs. Jean Trebol of the Bacolod Anti-BAHA Alliance said they have a long list of things and programs to be done with the full support of the City Government of Bacolod, their group, National Disaster Coordinating Council headed by Usec. Anthony Golez and other bran-hes of the Local Government of Bacolod.

“We have a long list and I am sure it’s doable if our Mayor will give his all-out support. There’s no question it can be done with the Mayor supporting it,” she said.

She suggested that the city obtain a loan if it doesn’t have the funds. “The Mayor has time to pay it. I am sure that if he gives his support, we can do this. He should support this as he was the one who invited us here together. So what’s the use of putting us together if he is not going to support it?”

The Alliance is very hopeful and expects that he is going to give his full support. Availing the loan is cheaper than the cost of the new government center and there will be no more flood, the group pointed out..

“What more do you want, the city is still flooding. Until the floodway is finished, it cannot totally eradicate, but it can minimize the flooding in the northern part of Bacolod,” she said.

She added that the informal dwellers have to be dealt with, the solid waste management should be given due attention. Councilor Roberto Rojas cannot clean the city faster than those who indiscriminately throw their garbage, Trebol pointed out.

“We need to educate everyone, let them participate in solving the problem. Everybody has to get involved. We will help in the education campaign and in fact, we already started the education campaign. We can do better if the city is with us,” she added.

She added that the plan is only good if it is implemented.

If there is no implementation, then it’s only a plan. Just like the 10-year old master plan on the dredging of two rivers. It became antiquated and the city has to start from scratch again.

“We think that there is sincerity on the part of the Mayor to solve the problem,” she said.

Mayor Leonardia said that, “We will try to squeeze what we have. Possibly, the loan is an option that we have to consider. We need huge funds and equipment-wise, the City Engineer’s Office need equipment as basic as backhoe and yet if we have to rely on the regular budget, we can’t have it. The loan is an option.”

The City can only use 30% of its 5% Calamity Fund for Disaster Preparedness. And 5% of P1 billion is worth P50 million.

Usec. Golez said that, “After all these figures have been said, they have to undergo some technical preparation by technical people. And those are just rough estimates. According to PD 1566, the one that defines disaster management in the country, the local government unit has a local calamity fund for which it can be used to begin with or initially. And whatever it is that they cannot finance, that’s the time the national government can help through the NDCC.”

Councilor Rojas said flooding is a major problem that the city is facing and “we have to come up with a budget of P375 million, considering that we have to make a drainage master plan and implement it. I believe if the city will avail of the loan and if the Sangguniang Panlungsod and the City Mayor will agree, I will push for it because it will solve the flooding problem on a long term basis. If the city decides to avail of the loan, I will go for it.”*

PUBLIC HEARING ON REGULATION ON USE OF PLASTIC

BAHA Says: Regulation on Plastics Use Good Bill But Needs Strict Enforcement

By Carla N. Cañet

The Anti BAHA Council participated in the public hearing conducted by Councilor Greg Gasataya, Chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Environment, Wednesday relative to his proposed Ordinance which will regulate the use of plastic bags/plastic cellophane (polyethylyne) as packing/bagging materials and institutionalizing the use of biodegradable containers within the City of Bacolod.

Mrs. Jean Trebol, Norman Campos, Agnes Jalandoni, Nena Rosello, Franklin Villanueva, Phoebe Mellizo, Tina Monfort, Rene Hinojales, Dionisio dela Cruz, SM Supermarket Supervisor Jonalyn Diaz, representatives from Lopue’s Department Store, among others.

The public hearing was conducted at the SP Session Hall Wednesday where they have discussed options and suggestions to be considered in the proposed Ordinance.

Mrs. Trebol said that the Ordinance is really beautiful because plastics are the culprit in clogging the drainage and waterways.

But the city should ensure the strict implementation of this Ordinance.

“No one can blame the people for feeling skeptical in the sincerity of government to enforce laws because local laws and even national laws are just piling up but most of it never reached enforcement,” she pointed out.

The government should see to it that the laws being made should be implemented and strictly enforced, she said. “We want to see heads roll if they fail to implement this bill.”

She also asked Councilor Gasataya to rate the city’s enforcement of the Solid Waste Management and if there are failures on the part of the local government on the enforcement, then be open to admit it.

Councilor Gasataya in response has admitted that there is a problem.

But they have started the efforts of truly involving the barangays in the implementation of the Solid Waste Management more particularly in waste segregation and proper waste disposal.

Mrs. Trebol said the barangays should be in the frontline insofar as Solid Waste Management implementation is concerned.. They are really in the first line of defense on this program.

The habit of indiscriminately throwing or disposing garbage is so entrenched and so deep, therefore the government should exert effort on how to discipline the people, make them feel concerned about the environment. The education should be sustainable, she said.

Gasataya said this involves a long process of educating the public that they have a part in the implementation of the Solid Waste Management.

Hinojales also suggested that the government should encourage the public to make cleaning and greening a habit especially in the barangays.

The government can inspire people from doing their share by providing either incentives to those who follow the law and penalizing those who violate it.

“We want to see a barangay that is truly clean and green,” he said.

Gasataya said that they will revive the Clean and Green competition in the barangay.

Mrs. Trebol said that cleaning and greening of their respective barangay should be a habit. Yes, there is a competition and incentives for those barangay which will participate. But they should not forget that the purpose of the competition is not to receive the prize but learn and value cleaning and greening. Make it a habit, he said.

Mr. Diaz, SM representative has informed the body that they have already plastics that are biodegradable.

This has, in fact, impressed those in the public hearing because nobody was aware of its existence.

However, the BAHA council is so keen in asking SM where it is sourced and if it is really biodegradable.

They got a sample of the biodegradable plastic from Mr. Diaz for them to test it if it’s really degradable.* (CNC)

Anti-Baha Alliance: There's more to get done!

The Anti-Baha Alliance did an ocular visit Friday to various sites where the city has started its clearing, cleaning and dredging operations. 

They visited Purok Riverside's Zones 1, 2 and 3, Purok Mahimulaton temporary relocation center, the Kimara relocation site and at Purok Mahimulaton where Sipalay's Water Master did the dredging operation. 

Jean Trebol and her group went on every creek and pointed the portions where the city has left some work unattended. 

Trebol said the city is doing what it has promised, however, there is more to get done right and properly. 

She pointed the pile of garbage and a huge cut of wood in the middle of a river at the back of several houses in Zone 2, Purok Riverside. 

The flow of water is very slow and the color of the water is almost black which means it lacks oxygen. 

Garbage spreads everywhere and the siltation has almost eaten half of the river, Trebol said. 

The city's team has not finished some portions of what they have cleared and dredged, but they transfer from one place to another which is supposedly, they have to start clearing, cleaning and dredging from upstream particularly in the creeks in Barangay Bata and downstream in Banago, she said. 

"I am not an Engineer. But common sense will tell us that there's more to get done before they transfer to another place. There is no question that they are working. But what we want is for them to work right and properly," she said. 

The group went to Purok Mahimulaton to see the progress of the work done with the use of a rented water master. 

The Water Master operator continues to dredge but then there is no solution yet on how to haul out a mountainous pile of sand. 

Some squatters there have not yet vacated the place because according to them, they have not yet received financial assistance from the city. 

Trebol said her group would do everything to solve the flooding problem. 

"There is nothing political here. This is a legitimate cause that needs political will," she said. 

The group meantime plans to do an educational campaign on proper garbage disposal because garbage is really a problem in Bacolod. 

They wrote the Department of Public Services (DPS) regarding their operation as how many dump trucks are operating, how many tons of garbage are collected everyday and several questions which can be used as baseline to approach the problem intelligently. 

DPS has not answered us. There is no malice when we asked questions like that because we want to know where we can start helping solve the problem, she said. 

The Anti-Baha Alliance was formed when the flooding problem in Sta. Clara and Villa Valderama subdivisions in Mandalagan was on its worst form. 

Sta. Clara is a high end subdivision, but the residents there seems to be living in a pool when it rains because flood waters enter their homes, affecting their day to day chores. 

The city has been slow in addressing the problem until the Alliance made the longest caravan in time of the Western Visayas Tourism Assembly last November. 

They went to the City Council to submit their manifesto, asking the city officials to get down to work now that they are seated in power. 

"It's time that you work for us because we form part of the reasons why you are all here in the City Government. No more promises. Just show us that you are working on this problem," Agnes Jalandoni, their spokesperson said it before. (EASD)

BACOLOD'S GARBAGE PROBLEM

Friday, December 01, 2006

Sanchez: Hall of Shamer

By Benedicto Sanchez

NATURE SPEAKS

FINALLY, finally, the DENR has finally noticed something amiss with Bacolod City's solid waste management program.

Rhodora Capulso, chief of the regional public affairs office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region VI implied that Bacolod might lose its Hall of Famer status for the Cleanest and Greenest Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines if the city doesn't improve its garbage segregation and slaughterhouse services.

I'm glad Rhodora is back in town. I haven't seen her in ages since our community forestry days. Now, she's back in town to cover not the mountain forest of Salvador Benedicto and Calatrava but the urban jungle that is Bacolod.

My friends and readers know me as a "mountain man," focusing on mountain-related ecological concerns, especially on land tenure, forest conservation and sustainable livelihoods. I was the program coordinator then my organization BIND signed a contract with the DENR to organize the first community forestry program in Western Visayas.

But I live in Bacolod, which is a highly urbanized city. I felt awkward doing environmental and social development work for far-flung communities but not doing anything in my own community. Thus, when the Vancouver-based International Centre for Sustainable Cities (ICSC) came to Bacolod in 2002, I joined the multi stakeholder organization it formed.

The Canadians organized ICSC to bring the idea of urban sustainability into practical action. ICSC views itself as a broker, bringing together the business community, civil society organizations and various levels of government to tackle urban issues. During ICSC-sponsored workshops, our group of government, business and civil society representatives identified solid waste management as a felt need. Our core activities thus focused on waste segregation at source and practicing the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle). Our efforts eventually matured into putting in place Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

The Act was a product of long-standing advocacies by civil society and local government units wrought by the unsystematic management of the country's solid waste.

In line with RA 9003, the group pushed for segregation at source, segregated transportation, storage, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste and all other waste management activities which do not harm the environment.

Alas, all our efforts went for naught, both under the administrations of Oscar Verdeflor and Luzviminda Valdez. Now Evelio Leonardia continues their dubious legacy. To ensure compliance with waste segregation at source, we lobbied for the establishment of Material Recovery Facilities in Bacolod's three public markets.

As any jaded observer would note, that has yet to happen. It's still business as usual. Just go early morning or evening around Araneta Street and Central Market. Unsegregated wastes are simply dumped in the streets. While ecological awareness needs to be improved among Bacolod residents, sometimes you can't really fault them. There are simply no waste receptacles in every street corner, let alone segregation bins.

Oh sure, you can't fault the Bacolod aides for doing a good job. They sweep and collect the unsegregated wastes, and dump everything into the public market's skip hoists, those huge waste receptacles in public markets. Then the waste are collected and thrown into the controlled dumpsite.

Of course, a sanitary landfill remains a dream, maybe a pipe dream. More money is spent on hiring cleaning aides rather than creating a system for reducing, reusing or recycling wastes.

For Bacolod's executives, their mindset is not on ecological solid waste management. It's public relations, more like. Good source of employment for the urban poor-and of votes. As for public awareness, it's banking on the principle of out of sight, out of mind, no different from sweeping the dirt under the rug.

No wonder, Bacolod is now a flood-prone city. Its drainage system is clogged by trash. I'm sure the city government spends a bundle just to declog the system after floodwaters refuse to drain itself after a heavy downpour.

If the national level award is reactivated, Bacolod should compete not with the four other Hall of Famer cities of Baguio, Puerto Princesa, Olongapo and Marikina. I've been in these last three cities recently and I'm impressed. With Bacolod, it should consider competing for the Hall of Shame. I'm sure it will be an early favorite. Comments are most welcome. Please send email to bqsanc@yahoo.com For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
(December 1, 2006 issue)

Negros Daily Bulletin
November 26, 2007

Heart of the Matter
by Edgar Cadagat
Outraged by Anti-BAHA Alliance

FLOOD DESTROYS ONE'S PATIENCE. It is always said that in terms of news and news coverages, as editors would say it, "No News is good news."

This means that when a dog bites a man, this is not news because it happens in everyday life. It is only news when the dog is rabid, for example, and goes on a rampage, biting say, a dozen of people sending them on to the hospital for treatment.

It is the same with floods. Floods happen all over the country making people's lives miserable. Years ago, floods unleashed by sustained and heavy rains, not only caused waist-high waters but flowed into backyards and into apartments complete with soft, dirty, slithering mud. It took us a whole day to clean up the mud and muck, also sending us cursing beneath our breaths.

That was more than 15 years ago, an experience our journalist's brain remembers in small details. That flood broke our patience. Thus, too, did it to members of the Anti-Baha Alliance which makes us understand what and how they feel about the situation.

AN EQUALIZER. Like the second world war, or more so nature's onslaughts, the flood has become an equalizer as the declaration of those in the Anti-Baha Alliance showed. Not only are the poor affected but the well-heeled residents of posh subdivisions as well. Those affected have insisted concrete efforts and not mere promises would now do, drawing the line against those in the local government which it said have failed to do their homework and have been engaged in finger-pointing, instead.

LONG TERM SOLUTION NEEDED. But everyone agrees that a long-term solution to the problem of flooding is needed. Clearing the waterways including the creeks, rivers and canals will no longer do. On the other hand, a comprehensive building of a drainage system in Bacolod City is needed but which will take years to do. Before this, a survey must be conducted, studies done. But with residents in Banago, Sta. Clara, Capitolville, ERORECO, Mountain View and nearby subdivisions affected by the flooding, those in the city government were forced to create a task force to deal with the problem.

Thus, dredging of the Banago River, surrounding waterways and clearing and cleaning of canals are to be done.

Unfortunately, urban poor residents whose houses have been sitting on waterways have to be transferred to facilitate the clearing, Bobby Rojas of the city government's task force on clearing said.

A HUGE PROBLEM. Those other areas of the city could emulate the example of the Anti-Baha Alliance especially in Northern portion of the city, likewise demanding that something should be done to either minimize or prevent floodings even when it rains normally. This will prove to be a problem to officials of the city government, primarily, Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who could lose political ground if he is perceived to be lackadaisical in responding to the demand for solving the problem.

Laying blame on others won't do now because the fired-up members of the Anti-Baha Alliance could mount a sustained lobby giving rise to a public perception that his administration is inept, even more so, incompetent.*

FLOODING CONTINUES EVEN WITH LITTLE RAIN... NOV. 19, 2007

Creek near Lopue's MandalaganSon of a Purok Riverside resident wading in flood waters
Purok Riverside
Purok Riverside