Marcos blames climate change, poor trash disposal for severe Metro Manila floods

MANILA, Philippines – After President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inspected severely flooded areas in Metro Manila on Thursday, July 25, he pinned the blame on climate change and improper trash disposal practices of Filipinos.

The President said that based on initial reports, southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Carina (Gaemi) had a “greater” impact compared to 2009’s Tropical Storm Ondoy in that more areas in Metro Manila were flooded following the weather disturbance on Wednesday, July 24.

“Valenzuela always gets flooded. They already have many flood control [structures], but they were overwhelmed by the amount of water. We have to relook, we have to reexamine some of the designs of our flood control,” Marcos told reporters in Filipino after the ocular inspection.

“We have more flood control [projects] now than before, but [look at] climate change. This is what the effects of climate change are,” he added.

He added that Valenzuela and Navotas have dozens of pumping stations, which are facilities with equipment designed to guide water away from flood-prone areas, but the amount of garbage reduced their effectiveness, according to the President.

“I hope that people learn not to throw trash [anywhere]. The garbage blocked our pump stations,” Marcos said.

“It all came together yesterday – heavy rain plus high tide. At least now, it’s very clear what the situation is,” he added.

A situation report by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Thursday morning said that bad weather in July had caused 13 landslides, forced the evacuation of over 600,000 individuals, and killed 14 people across the country.

In his State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 22, Marcos touted the completion of 5,500 flood control projects as among his accomplishments in office. – Rappler.com