After inspecting the newly rehabilitated drainage system in one of the metropolis' heavily flooded areas during the rainy season, President Marcos cited improvements in the condition of G. Araneta's drainage system.

Marcos led the inspection of the drainage system in G. Araneta Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Quezon City, on Friday, June 26.

The President noted that larger drainage pipes were installed in the area to allow water to drain more quickly and prevent flooding.

"Mabuti naman, mukhang effective naman (Fortunately, the project appears to be effective)," Marcos said.

"Dahil kausap ko lahat yung ibang mga tiga rito, ika nila ay dati, lumalampas daw sa second floor yung tubig dito kapag umuulan kahit kaunti lang (I spoke with some of the residents here, and they told me that before, even a little rain would cause floodwaters to rise above the second floor of their homes)," Marcos added.

He said what made the area more vulnerable to flooding was its location.

"[K]ung titingnan ninyo, lahat ng palabas dito ay pataas. Lahat ng pupunta mo mula rito ay pataas, kaya naman lahat ng tubig dito pupunta (If you look around, every road leading out of this area is uphill. Everywhere you go from here is uphill, so all the water naturally flows into this place)," he noted.

"Kaya yung drainage importante, at itong tubig, na na-drain dito, ay dinadala sa San Juan River. Yan ang plano natin (That's why the drainage system is so important. The water drained from this area is directed to the San Juan River. That is our plan)," he added.

Marcos also cited continuous declogging as among the efforts needed to further address flooding in G. Araneta.

He asked the help of Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte in establishing a system for declogging. He also mentioned the need to address the garbage collection problem in the area.

"At ang susunod na problema na kailangan natin lutasin, ang pagkolekta ng basura. Dahil ang nangyayari dito, pagka pumapasok na yung tubig, dala yung basura, nababara na naman yung ating mga drainage (The next problem we need to address is garbage collection. What happens is that when floodwater comes in, it carries trash with it, which ends up clogging the drainage system again)," Marcos said.

"Kaya't magpapatulong tayo sa local government, hihingi tayo ng tulong kay Mayor Joy, at sabihin natin kung pwede ay gawa tayo ng sistema para tuloy-tuloy ang pag-declogging (So we will seek the assistance of the local government. We will ask Mayor Joy for support and see if we can establish a system for continuous declogging)," Marcos added.

According to the Chief Executive, residents are already doing some declogging themselves, "but it's only on a small scale."

He underscored that considering the volume of garbage, a proper system is needed to ensure that all the trash is collected whenever heavy rains are expected.

He further noted that after the rain, more debris will likely be carried in, so the drainage system will have to be declogged again.

"At kaya pagka naayos natin 'yan, palagay ko mararamdaman. Ngayon pa lang nararamdaman na raw nila na hindi na tumataas yung tubig (Once we fix that, I believe people will really feel the difference. In fact, residents say they are already noticing that the floodwaters no longer rise as they used to)," Marcos said.

"At kapag may tubig na umiipon dito, ay mabilis naman mawala. Hindi kagaya ng dati na ora-orada bago sila makapasok dito sa kanilang mga lugar (And when water does accumulate, it drains away quickly. It's no longer like before, when it took a long time before they could return to their homes)," Marcos added.

The President said it would also bring relief to small business owners in the are who suffered because their livelihoods and the goods they sold were damaged by flooding.

"Kaya't napakalaking bagay na ayusin natin ito. Kaya 'yan ang ating ginawa, patuloy natin itong gagawin (That's why it is so important that we fix this. That's what we have done, and we will continue doing it)," Marcos said.

Marcos added that the project covers only one side so far, but assured residents that the government will also carry out the same improvements on the other side "so that water can flow out more quickly and flooding will no longer be a problem along G. Araneta Avenue in Tatalon."