Malabon officials’ plea: Don’t steal sandbags

MANILA, Philippines—Malabon City local officials on Wednesday appealed to residents to stop stealing sandbags used to prevent the Tullahan River dike from overflowing, a Radyo Inquirer 990AM report said.

Malabon public information officer Bong Padua said police on Tuesday apprehended a man who was caught red-handed through CCTV camera while stealing sandbags.

Padua said thefts of flood control materials like sandbags have become rampant, disrupting government’s flood control efforts.  The stolen sandbags are used either as their own flood barriers or materials for the repair of storm-devastated houses.

On Tuesday, Malabon City was declared under a state of calamity after all its 21 villages were swamped by floodwaters, triggering the evacuation of 1,131 families.

Padua said they were now geared to clean-up the trash left by the floods which was estimated to fill around 100 garbage trucks or 10 times the amount of garbage collected on an average day.