OUT-OF-TOWN BRIEFING President Marcos presides over a disaster briefing in San Mateo, Rizal, on Friday. 鈥擬ARIANNE BERMUDEZ
LUCENA CITY鈥擠espite the troubles brought about by the supertyphoon and enhanced southwest monsoon, President Marcos urged Filipinos and government officials to intensify their preparations for the La Ni帽a phenomenon.
鈥淲e have to prepare for the next flood. This is the first typhoon within the La Ni帽a phenomenon. There鈥檚 a long way to go. So, we have to prepare. Let鈥檚 think about preparing,鈥� Mr. Marcos told national and Quezon government officials at a briefing held in Mauban town on Friday morning.
Presidential inspection
Marcos visited Mauban, a coastal town facing Lamon Bay in the Pacific Ocean, as part of his ocular inspection in typhoon-hit areas.
He was met by Quezon Gov. Angelina Tan, Mauban Mayor Erwin Pastrana and Quezon Representatives Mark Enverga, David Suarez, Reynante Arrogancia and Mike Tan.
The President was briefed by Quezon officials on the effects of Supertyphoon 鈥淐arina鈥� (international name: Gaemi) and Typhoon 鈥淎ghon鈥� (international name: Ewiniar) that badly hit the province last May.
During the briefing, Marcos agreed with the reports that some areas in the typhoon-affected parts of the country have experienced flooding for the first time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the same for us. Some areas didn鈥檛 experience flooding. We knew where the water would go, where it would flood. But now, we don鈥檛. Everything has changed,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we have to figure out. Why did it change? Where is the water coming from? Where is it passing through? What can we do to block it, at least impound it or whatever the plan will be?鈥� he said.
Change mindsets
Mr. Marcos told government officials that the rampaging flood water knows no boundaries.
鈥淭he flood control has to be a big plan. It will cross three, four, five regions. It can鈥檛 be just one town here, one town there. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e trying to assess what are the significant changes,鈥� he said.
He noted that the flood control projects of the government are in response to past flooding incidents.
READ: Marcos: People should learn as climate change, trash caused flooding
鈥淏ut things have changed. Number one, the sea level has risen. The sea is higher now than before. So when there鈥檚 high tide, the water overflows the dikes and flood control systems. That鈥檚 why we need to reassess those,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e have to understand the flow of the water and how to manage it so it does not flood the productive areas, households, residential communities and destroy the roads and other infrastructures. This has to be a national plan,鈥� he said.
Mr. Marcos also inspected the damage to the concrete sea wall caused by the surging waves during the height of Carina鈥檚 fury.
Of the five provinces in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region, Quezon was the least hit by the typhoon, except for the Polillo group of islands, and only sustained minor damage compared with the other four provinces.