Mayor Treñas says drainage system issues caused floods in Iloilo City

Iloilo City map

ILOILO CITY — Problems involving a creek’s drainage system caused floodings during the past two months, according to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Monday.

In a press conference, the mayor said the city government might have to relocate the houses along and on top of the creek and dredge it to make it deeper.

“The waters in La Paz pass through the Budburan Creek in Lapuz, and unless we fix the [creek], we would have to relocate the houses on top of the creek and deepen [it],” he said.

The recurring problem of flooding in La Paz, he said, pushed the city government to build a retention tank at the La Paz plaza, which would retain all of the rainwater to prevent flooding there.

The mayor explained that rising tides due to climate change have likewise exacerbated the flooding problem in the city.

The Department of Public Works and Highways was planning to build four new pumping stations in the city, which the mayor said would stop floodwaters.

But this will not be operational any time soon as the agency will still need to fund this through the national budget.

Treñas also mentioned perennial flooding in some subdivisions in Mandurriao district with low elevation.

He said the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office’s new operations center in Mandurriao district will be opened soon to help monitor flooding in the city through cameras and fiber optics.

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