Muntinlupa flood-free; landmark plastics ban cited

By Miko Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

With the intensity of the intermittent rains that began on Thursday, certain areas in Muntinlupa City could have been just another statistic in the national government’s flood monitoring.

But to Muntinlupa Mayor Aldrin San Pedro’s surprise, the anticipated flooding in some parts of the city did not happen, with rainwater flowing freely through canals and waterways and making their way to Laguna de Bay.

San Pedro cited Muntinlupa’s landmark ban on plastics and polyestrene containers, which was implemented early this year, as among the factors that kept the city free from flooding.

“When our personnel did the cleanups in the past weeks, there was less trash along waterways,” he said in an interview. San Pedro acknowledged that the ban was not the ultimate solution to the flooding problem, but pointed out that it eased the local government’s headaches in ensuring that rainwater would leave the city’s streets as soon as possible.

He identified three areas in Muntinlupa’s National Road that he and other officials had anticipated to be flooded—the part near City Hall, the part near Barangay (village) Putatan, and the part near the Pepsi plant in Barangay Tunasan.

These portions of the road are among the low areas on the thoroughfare that act like a catch basin, and floodwaters there rise up to the knee on the average, he said.

San Pedro also surmised that the construction developments in these areas could also be a factor in the flooding situation. But overall, he said, the city government minimized the effect of the intermittent rains by making sure the areas were drained immediately.

“We could still have pushed through with classes in the city had not the Department of Education suspended the classes in Metro Manila [on Friday],” he said.