Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon lamented the dumping of trash into drainage systems, which contributes to flooding in various barangays.

Personnel from the Muntinlupa City government have been unclogging drainage systems in different areas.

Biazon said a tire was found in a drainage ditch on Narra Street in Lakeview, Barangay Putatan.

“Palaisipan talaga sa akin bakit sa aming declogging ng mga drainage sa iba't ibang lugar sa Muntinlupa, may nakukuhang gulong na nakabara (It's really a mystery to me why, when we declog drainages in various areas in Muntinlupa, we find tires),” he said.

He added that such obstructions are a major obstacle to the flow of water. The mayor has instructed the city’s Engineering Office to continue declogging operations.

However, he noted that because there are so many drainage systems, the Engineering Office cannot handle them all at once.

The mayor stressed the importance of barangay cooperation to ensure proper drainage flow.

“Hindi makakaila na ang basura ay may kontribusyon sa pagbaha. Kahit regular ang declogging pero patuloy pa rin ang walang pakundangan na pagkalat ng basura, mahihirapan tayong makamit ang efficient na pagdaloy ng ating drainage systems. Lahat tayo may responsibilidad sa pananatili ng kalinisan ng ating lungsod (It cannot be denied that garbage contributes to flooding. Even if declogging is done regularly, if garbage continues to be spread carelessly, it will be difficult for us to achieve efficient flow in our drainage systems. We all have a responsibility to maintain the cleanliness of our city),” he said.

Nicolas Torre III, general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), posted photos of a waterway full of garbage in Parañaque City, saying this is one of the reasons flooding occurs.

“Lilinisin natin ito. Aalisin natin ang basura. Gagawin ng gobyerno ang trabaho nito. Pero pagkatapos nating linisin, paano natin sisiguraduhin na hindi na ito babalik sa ganito? (We will clean it up. We will remove the garbage. The government will do its job. But after we clean it up, how do we make sure it doesn’t return to this state?),” he posted on Facebook.