After ‘Pedring,’ Malabon, Manila brace for ‘Quiel’

With another storm threatening the country, the Manila City government has stepped up efforts to repair a 750-meter-long portion of the sea wall on Roxas Boulevard which was damaged by Typhoon “Pedring.”

So far, around 50 percent of the repairs have been completed, Manila City engineer Armando Andres said on Thursday.

He clarified, however, that the repairs were only temporary as the city government was waiting for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to submit its design for a new sea wall.

The city government and DPWH started clearing Roxas Boulevard of debris and garbage on Wednesday, a day after Pedring’s howling winds and heavy rains ravaged parts of Metro Manila.

Manila Department of Public Services head Carlos Baltazar told reporters since Wednesday, they have collected around four truckloads of debris and trash from the area.

Sandbags were also being put up near the collapsed portion of the sea wall as a temporary measure.

In an earlier interview, Andres said it would take around P30 million to repair the Baywalk area alone.

More than 1,000 of the 5,000 families who sought shelter from Pedring remain in evacuation areas as of Thursday.

Manila social welfare and development head Jay de la Fuente said that those who remain in the centers either lost their houses or were still rebuilding their damaged homes.

He added that for the past three days, the city government has distributed 3,156 bags of relief goods with each bag costing around P250.

Nongovernment organizations and other private donors have also chipped in and are continuing relief operations in Baseco and other typhoon-hit areas in the city.

Meanwhile, cleaning operations are ongoing at Ospital ng Maynila (OsMa) after floodwaters seeped into the ground floor on Tuesday, prompting officials to order the evacuation of affected patients to the upper floors.

OsMa assistant director Evangeline Morales told reporters that by yesterday, power had been restored to the hospital with the outpatient department, emergency room, laboratory, X-ray, hemodialysis and trauma sections already fully operational.

Still being cleaned up are the medical records section, admission area, kitchen, stockroom, family medicine section, special consultation section, ultrasound section, linen room, dermatology section and social work office, she said.

In Malabon City, one of the areas in Metro Manila which sustained the biggest damage due to Pedring, preparations were already underway for Tropical Storm “Quiel” which entered the country Thursday morning.

Under clear skies, members of the city’s Solid Waste Management Office and the General Services Office set to work, clearing streets of garbage and debris.

At the height of Pedring’s fury, 11 of Malabon’s barangays were underwater although yesterday morning, only three—Panghulo, Niugan and Tonsuya—remain flooded, said Roderick Tongol, head of the city’s disaster and risk reduction committee.

On Wednesday, the city council declared a state of calamity in the city to enable the city government to use part of its calamity funds for rehabilitation efforts.

“We need to do this so that we will be more prepared when the new storm comes,” Bong Padua, chief public information officer, said.

According to an initial report by city engineer Edgardo Yanga, Pedring damaged around P30 million worth of infrastructure in Malabon. With Kristine Felisse Mangunay