METRO MANILA IS SINKING DUE TO.....

BY MACON RAMOS-ARANETA

Metro Manila is sinking, Fernando Siringan of the UP Marine Science Institute said on Thursday, adding the entire metropolis is sinking by several centimeters every year because of flooding.Siringan, one of the resource speakers in a public hearing conducted by the Committee on Climate Change led by its chairwoman, Senator Loren Legarda, said Malabon, for instance, was sinking by 10 meters a year.

But Siringan said the sinking was not only happening in Metro Manila alone but also in the nearby provinces such as Pampanga and Bataan.

In Pampanga, Siringan said, the most affected area was San Rafael, Baruya, in Lubao, where the land sank by half a meter in 2002, 2003, 20011 and 2012.

The same incident was also happening in Hermosa, Bataan, Siringan claimed.

Siringan said “sinking” maybe also be caused by obstructions that hinder the flow of water in the countrys’ rivers, forcing the water to rise “behind these obstructions.’

“This will further render the flow of water to become slower. There are many such obstructions, especially along Pasig River. Since Pasig River is the primary artery of Metro Manila, it should be widened,” Siringan said.

Siringan said the DPWH’s plan to construct river walls after typhoon ‘Ondoy’ ravaged Metro Manila and nearby provinces will not help.

“They (river walls) will not solve it completely and that might even be wrong because they talked about increasing the seawall, higher, but not widening,” said Siringan.

“So it will not be effective to deepen the river because it will be filled up by sediments anyway. The best way is to widen the river instead of opening up the river mouth.”

Siringan also pointed out that the elevation of most of the country’s dikes is not right. He said the elevations were based on old elevations. “They used old data.” (end)