BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Thousands of individuals in the northern part of Negros Occidental have been rescued or evacuated as incidents of flooding caused by heavy rains were reported.
A report from Provincial Disaster Management Program Division chief the Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian furnished to DNX News showed that as of 3 a.m. of today, 9 January 2021, 1089 families in Victorias have been temporarily rescued and evacuated.
The report also added that in Talisay, 235 families have been evacuated to safer grounds.
The following are the areas and the number of families that were evacuated:
Zone 4-A, two families or 10 persons; Zone 12, 21 families or 48 persons; Talisay South Elementary School, five families or 14 persons;
Zone 3, Covered Court 45 families; Zone 2, 100 families; Zone 16-chapel 7 families and Bubog, 55 families.
This developed as environmentalist Junjun Mojica called for a less short-sighted and more comprehensive approach to solve the problem of floodings.
“Dredging alone could not solve the problem,” Mojica told DNX News.
There should be, he said, an assessment of the current state of the whole ecosystem.
Mojica also called to apprise and check areas in the mountains that have been converted to agricultural or commercial areas, including those planted for crops like sugarcane, converted to commercial poultry houses, or developed into resorts.
“We also need to check the state of our rivers, especially those that have given way to unregulated quarry operations,” he added.
Another, he said would be proper implementation of solid waste management, as well as solid expert consultation on the resolution of the problem of flooding.
