TALK of the town since the historic downpour is the flash flood that turned Bacolod that prides itself in being the most livable city in the Philippines, into the most “swimmable city”, when flashfloods come.
The usually placid Bacoleños turned irate last Wednesday’s downpour--a usual three-day water level rainfall that came down in the city on that afternoon.
Flashfloods are not new for Bacolenos, but one thing is clear--with climate change, the volume of rainfall has increased radically, turning streets into virtual streams and riverine-like waterways. The net result is the flooding of main streets Lacson, Araneta, circumferential road, Burgos Extension, etc., totaling 52 locations all over Bacolod.
Flash flooding of the low section and coastal areas of Bacolod that affected even posh subdivisions like Sta.Clara, and Capitolville the past decade, will become a more frequent occurrence in the near future, especially with the rapid land conversion of our coastal, midland and city environs.
As early the administration of Mayor Joy Valdez’ in 2004, whence, the Southeast East Asian Center for Resource Studies Consultancy & Training (Seacrest) Foundation undertook environmental situation analysis of all coastal barangays in Bacolod, the threat of flash flooding has been raised. The Seacrest findings highlighted the disappearance of major waterways of the city--estuaries, creeks, and rivers. The Seacrest coastal environmental situation analysis that many of the city’s esteros have been built over by big commercial establishments may pose real problems with the outflow of water into the sea.
Built over esteros or estuaries cited in the study are in Lopue’s San Sebastian, the old mill going to airport subdivision, Palmas del Mar, Pahanucoy, Bredco reclamation area that filled a number of these waterways, and the Banago district. In addition, Seacrest underscored the negative impact of mangrove clearings from Sum-ag-Pahanucoy, Banago and Bredco coastal lines. Despite the call for action then of the city government, no definitive step was taken to address the environmental threats to the coasts and inner city areas of Bacolod.
Since then, Bacolod has seen rapid urbanization and infrastructure development but the problem raised then, including the illegal fencing of easement and foreshores under the Government’s Foreshore Lease Agreement (FLAs) by hundreds of holders of FLAs in Bacolod (who treated them as virtual “titles” to ownership ) were never addressed.
With the onset of Climate Change, and scientific prognostication of low lying areas like the Bacolod coastline being flooded, under water, within a decade or so Bacoleños will increasingly face not just flashfloods, but perennial flooding. Filled-up estuaries, creeks and rivers, massive blocking of plastics and other debris of the few remaining creeks and three rivers--Banago, Lupit, and Pahanocoy-Sum-ag, clearing of mangroves to give way to resorts and condos--all have high negative impact that will lead to widespread flooding in Bacolod.
To be continued...