People making money from motorists by blocking street drains -MMDA

People who wanted to take advantage of desperate motorists and pedestrians were deliberately clogging the drains of some streets in the metropolis, according to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

In a radio interview Tuesday, MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said

that based on an initial report submitted by the agency’s flood monitoring office, large stones had been placed on top of the drains, resulting in flooding in some areas.

He added that some people were taking advantage of the situation in many ways, including charging motorists whose vehicles had stalled in the middle of floodwaters.

Some pedicab drivers, on the other hand, were making money by offering rides at exorbitant rates to commuters who wanted to avoid getting their feet wet.

Then there were also those who would charge pedestrians a fee for the use of makeshift bridges they had put up across flooded portions of a street.

“We have deployed our people to take out those obstructions,” Tolentino said as he warned that he had also ordered his men to go after the perpetrators.

Some of the areas where blocked street drains were reported yesterday included Quirino Avenue and portions of España Boulevard and Sampaloc, all in Manila.