Is Metro Manila safe to live in, mayor wants to know

THE STORMS, rains and floods have passed but Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian is keen on keeping the discussion going on a question he asked in the wake of recent torrential monsoon rains: Is Metro Manila still a safe place to live in?

“When [Tropical Storm] ‘Ondoy’ [hit us], forecasters said that those strong typhoons would come only once in 50 years. So we thought we [would be safe for] 50 more years. However, just four years after that typhoon, we have this,” Gatchalian said in a recent interview, referring to the record rainfall that lashed Metro Manila and nearby provinces earlier this month, leading to heavy flooding.

According to him, he is bent on bringing up the issue before his fellow mayors through the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, especially with climate change threatening to result in harsher weather conditions in the country.

“This is an eye opener that the world is changing. Do we have the engineering knowledge to keep our communities safe? We should talk about this and study it in depth,” he said.

While he conceded that there may be no hard and fast answers to his question, Gatchalian said the discussion could lead to ideas which might mitigate the effects of climate change.

“We could ask experts for suggestions on weather-proofing our cities or this discussion could start them thinking about ways to do so,” he added.

He noted that Filipinos themselves may benefit from the discussions as they could be advised on what they should do, including moving their families to higher ground permanently.

“It’s the residents who will be at a loss if, say, every month, this thing keeps on happening. For example, 40 percent of Valenzuela is under water. We cannot just evacuate all the residents in that area easily,” Gatchalian said.