The torrential rain and thunderstorms brought about by the southwest monsoon caused traffic congestion in several areas of Metro Manila on Friday morning, leaving commuters stranded and vehicles caught in floods.
Owing to the monsoon system and the influence of tropical storm “Shanshan”—which is still far from the Philippine Area of Responsibility—the weather bureau said in its 4 p.m. update Friday that more rain and flooding could be expected during the weekend.
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista blamed the various infrastructure projects for the floods on Friday.
But he praised the weather bureau for its “accurate” weather forecast for Friday and did not blame it for the floods that hit portions of Quezon City and the other cities in Metro Manila.
“The weather bureau’s [forecast] was right when it said it will not rain occasionally in the evening or at dawn. The floods such as those along Quezon Avenue were caused by [the unfinished] infrastructure projects,” Bautista told News to Go.
“That is why we mayors in the Metro would want to know from the Department of Transportation and Department of Public Works and Highways the timetable of their projects’ completion so that that would be our basis for a class suspension.”
He apologized for Friday’s late suspension of classes in the public and private schools as a result of the floods.
“I cannot [automatically] suspend classes based on Pagasa’s forecast that tells of thunderstorm and rains [only],” he said.
Thousands of people were stranded by the floods, prompting Bautista to suspend classes before 11 am.
“We mayors have observed that [occasional] rain could already cause flooding [in Metro Manila],” Bautista said.
He said while the unfinished infrastructure projects were designed to fix the problem of flooding, “these could also cause severe floods and severe traffic.”
“We really want to know when can the DoTr and DPWH finish their projects,” Bautista said.
According to Bautista, the chairman of the Metro Manila Council, the policy-making body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, a meeting had been set on Aug. 7 to discuss the issue with the DoTr, DPWH, Department of Education, Pagasa and other stakeholders. With PNA