FILE PHOTO: Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva. Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva is so fed up with the relentless floods plaguing Bulacan that he offered a startling challenge: He would resign.
He posed the challenge when his grilling of Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan did not yield a solid answer on whether land reclamation projects could be linked to floods.
Villanueva, a Bulacan native, claimed Wednesday that reclamation projects are among the factors that caused massive and incessant flooding in vulnerable areas like his hometown province.
In heated discussion at a Senate hearing, he asked Bonoan’s thoughts about the Manila Bay reclamation projects:
“Itong reclamation na nangyayari, hindi ba makakaapekto ito?”
“I would say this again – noong nagkaroon ng reclamation sa MOA (Mall of Asia), iyang buong reclamation na ‘yan – mula noong nagkaroon ng reclamation ay nag-worsen ang flooding sa Bulacan,” he added.
(I would repeat this – when there was reclamation in the MOA (Mall of Asia), that whole reclamation – since then, flooding in Bulacan got worse.)
READ: Railway project may have contributed to Bulacan flooding – governor
He asked Bonoan anew, “Balikan natin, huwag na po muna ang nangyayari ngayon. Noong nangyari ang reclamation ay nagkaroon ba tayo ng assessment after a few years?”
(Let’s go back, not talk about what is happening now. When the reclamation occurred, did we have an assessment after a few years?)
“Kasi kung ako ang tatanungin ninyo at ang mga residente ng Bulacan, nag-worsen po [ang pagbaha],” he said.
(Because if you ask me and the residents of Bulacan, [the flooding] has gotten worse.)
READ: DPWH says audit needed on construction practices after Bulacan floods
‘Magre-resign ako’
Finally, the lawmaker prodded Bonoan to answer, but the DPWH chief refused, saying he could not provide a substantial comment now – prompting Villanueva to pose a challenge.
“Kung merong isa sa inyong magsasabi na hindi nakasama [ang reclamation] o hindi tumaas ang baha dahil sa reclamation, magre-resign ako,” Villanueva said.
(If any of you says that [the reclamation] did not help or that the flood did not rise because of the reclamation, I will resign.)
“If you say na hindi nakakasama o hindi nag-worsen ang pagbaha, I wanted to see an empirical data or study na nagsasabing hindi naman nakakasama,” he added.
(If you say that flooding is not harmful or has not worsened, I wanted to see empirical data or a study that says it is not harmful.)
READ: Keeping Bulacan afloat
Villanueva, however, quickly clarified that he is not against reclamation ventures as long as they are done correctly.
Senator Robin Padilla echoed Villanueva’s remarks, saying he has been to various countries with active reclamation projects, but they do not experience flooding.
“Tama ang sinabi [ni Villanueva] na kapag tama ang gawa [ay walang problema], ‘yun siguro ang dapat nating tandaan. Ang reclamation, ‘yan ay tanda ng pag-unlad ng bansa. Hindi ako kontra dito,” Padilla said during the hearing.
([Villanueva] rightly said that when the work is done right [there is no problem], maybe that’s what we should remember. Reclamation is a sign of the country’s development. I’m not against it.)
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