YESTERDAY’s afternoon downpour in Cebu City is not yet the start of the rainy season, said the weather bureau.
But it was enough to cause waist-deep flooding in parts of the city and prompted warring politicians to blame each other for unsolved drainage problems.
Flooding was waist deep in Francisca Village along V. Rama Street.
It was knee deep in Cabreros Street in Basak San Nicolas, Horse Shoe Drive and Happy Valley in Banawa, and in barangay C. Padilla about 2 p.m. said Alvin Santillana of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.
Portions of the South Road Properties (SRP) were also flooded as garbage blocked the drainage system “but it was not life threatening because the floodwaters subsided in no time,” said Santillana.
Cebu City south district Rep. Tomas Osmeña forwarded to reporters a text message complaint from a Basak San Nicolas resident saying “Napasagdan ni sa mayor.” (The mayor has neglected this.)
Osmeña said even the mayor’s cousin Basak San Nicolas barangay captain George Rama didn’t act on the problem before.
“When I was still mayor, (George) Rama did not mind asking me for drainage projects, instead he asked me to assist them in constructing a new barangay hall. “
The barangay captain fumed: “Ayaw pataka ug pamasangil. Ug gusto siya mag atubang mi kay ako siya sultihan.” (Don’t make baseless accusations. If he wants to , we can talk face to face.)
Defending his cousin Mayor Michael Rama, George Rama said he could not expect the mayor to address all of the city’s concerns since he’s been in office for less than two years while Osmeña was mayor for 20 years.
Barangay captain Rama said that they already worked on the barangay drainage system but this was already silted and blocked by new structures built without coordinating with the barangay council.
He said there is already a plan to improve their drainage system which would directly drain water to the sea.
He said Osmeña should be helping the barangays address these problems using his Priority Assistance Development Fund (PDAF).
Osmeña called Rama a “liar” for passing on the blame to him. He said that as barangay captain, Rama who should have requested for drainage improvement for his barangay.
The situation in Basak San Nicolas, Osmeña said, is similar with the problem in Labangon where the former barangay captain Dodo Abella asked for a new barangay hall. It was already the new set of barangay officials who called Osmeña’s attention on the need for a drainage improvement project.
Osmeña said he now has 14 drainage projects for implementation in Labangon.
“Ug dili mo reklamo ang kapitan wala ko kahibaw unsay problema.” (If barangay officials do not complain, I won’t have any idea what their problems are.)
Yesterday’s downpur was caused by the northeast monsoon or amihan, that strethced to northwest Cebu, said Mactan weather analyst Bolivar Artiaga of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
He said that only Cebu City, Mandaue City and Consolacion town experienced the downpours yesterday
There were clouds but no rain in Lapu-Lapu City.
A low pressure area seen in the seas off the Bicol region, said Artiaga, but it’s not yet the onset of the rainy season until there’s five days of consecutive rain.
Artiaga however said scattered rainshower and lightning with thunderstorm may be experienced in the coming days .
“Let’s wait after five days and if during that time it rains, then we can say the rainy season has come,” he said in Cebuano. /Edison A. Delos Angeles, Correspondent with reports from Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao