The House Committee on Metro Manila Development will have its hands full in the coming days, as it vowed to look into the country’s rainwater management amid the widespread flooding being experienced in Cagayan and Isabela, the cashless toll payment system, and the supposed "abusive, usurious, and highly unfair” practices of credit card, lending, and money remittance companies.
Manila 1st District Rep. Manuel Luis T. Lopez, panel chairperson, said they wanted to ensure that disaster mitigation infrastructure and policies are in place, given that the country is disaster-prone.
“In the coming days, this committee will study the issues of the soon to be implemented cashless toll payment scheme at the NLEX and SLEX, the abusive, usurious, and highly unfair and irregular practices of credit card, lending, and money remittance companies, entities and individuals, and most recently, the unacceptable damage and loss of life brought about by the flooding caused by Typhoon Ulysses and how we can finally prevent such future disasters from happening in the future,” Lopez said during his panel’s virtual meeting.
The House leader, who hails from Tondo, pressed on the need for his panel to step in and look into why "seemingly every year, we remain witness to such catastrophes.”
“We have to conduct investigations on why we cannot manage a large inflow of rainwater brought about by tropical storms. There lies a big disconnect in how we manage this most valuable of resources, water– and of which we are lucky to be abundantly blessed with,” Lopez said.
"Are there enough disaster mitigation infrastructure and policies in place?,” he asked.
According to him, coming up with solutions on properly managing water inflow during the rainy season, and storing it effectively for the dry season should be prioritized by Congress.
“Let us tackle this problem holistically. Let us look at the effects of urbanization and progress. What mitigating policies and regulations are in place and if the same is being implemented properly. Let us take a deep and scientific look at our water retention and containment structures and facilities if they are being preserved or maintained,” he said.
"Let us look at the state of our water tributaries. Let us look at why we are one day confronting the problem of water interruptions and rationing and the next day be confronted by the problem of flooding. And finally, who is in charge of all this? A country so blessed with an abundance of water should be able to manage and take care of the blessings bestowed upon it,” he added.
Lopez said his panel "does not limit itself merely with matters referred.”
"When the situation necessitates… when the lives and well-being of our Metro Manila residents are adversely affected, this committee does not hesitate to fully exercise its oversight function and power to find solutions to the problems we face today," Lopez said.