The town of Hagonoy in Bulacan has names of saints for almost all its barangays—San Jose, San Agustin, San Sebastian, Sto. Niño, San Miguel, San Pascual, San Nicolas, San Pablo, Sta. Ines, Sta. Elena, Sta. Monica, San Juan, San Isidro, San Pedro, Sta. Cruz, San Roque, and Sto. Rosario to be exact.
The townsfolk have prayed to all these saints—and have sought more divine intervention—for a miracle for their seemingly eternal problem: flooding during the rainy season.
Geographically, Hagonoy is on low-lying land near a coastal area —it sits on the northern shores of Manila Bay—which are primary factors for the community to submerge whenever it starts to rain heavily.
The water released from the nearby Angat and Ipo Dams also cannot be held by the Bustos Dam, which caused the latter to overflow. The raging waters come down the Pampanga River (as its catch basin) and travels along different barangays on its path, including those in Hagonoy. With just a little downpour, the whole first-class municipality turns into a body of water.
Another factor is the elevation of the town’s roads. The main roads were raised, but the residents who could not raise their homes to match them suffer. When it rains, the water flows back into the peoples’ homes, even if the rain is not falling anymore.
Locals have also blamed the chronic flooding on improper waste management by some people.
Even if the town is dismayed by the flood, the religious nature of the people in Hagonoy does not keep them from celebrating despite the natural calamity. There are still processions for the saints’ fiestas in the inundated streets, and devotees attend the church while dipping their legs into “normal” floods that sometimes reach two meters high.
Visiting the muddied tombs, seeing fish on the streets, and watching children playing in huge “swimming pools” created by excess water from the dams, rivers, or by a monsoon rain, the people of Hagonoy have learned how to deal with this daily reality for almost four decades.
According to the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, with the continued guidance of PRFFWC of Pagasa, they maintains and operates a network of rainfall, river and flood stage observation stations within the province as part of its flood disaster mitigation and management program.
The local government unit in Bulacan claiming proper dam protocols can help to alleviate the perennial flood problems not just in Hagonoy but throughout the province of Bulacan.
While the Municipality of Hagonoy, through its Environment Management Office in partnership with the Philippine Business for Social Progress last 2012 made an “eco-bike” project which helps in collecting the garbages in different barangays.
The former mayor of Hagonoy, Angel Cruz participated and emphasized the value of initiative, but the issue of improper waste management became worst this 2017.
The flood increase its level to 4.9 meters and taking longer to subside compared to the past few years.
Rene Crisistomo of the Hagonoy Risk Reduction and Management Office said discipline of the people is the ‘key’ to avoid this kind of flood.
The LGU of Hagonoy and the National Solid Waste Commission were joined by members of the Mother Earth Foundation in clearing the trash floating and blocking the sewage.