[ manilstandardtoday.com ] October 27, 2009
Bay Breeze Executive Village opened long before the C-6 road dike project in Taguig City began, which explains why it cannot be protected against the rising waters of Laguna de Bay.
Director Baltazar Melgar of the Metro Manila Development Authority is pessimistic about the future of the place despite the infrastructure, going by the findings of the flood control management office which he heads.
“The subdivision is located outside the road dike. There is no other way to protect [it] from floods,” he told Standard Today.
According to Melgar, Bay Breeze also posed the added burden of rescue during emergencies because the aiders would be operating outside the C-6’s protective barrier.
Efren Navarroza, a mechanical engineer, moved in to the 87- hectare residential zone about a decade ago.
He said the Department of Public Works and Highways had consulted Bay Breeze homeowners about the dike and came up with several options which led to the opening of another access gate.
“Another measure involved realigning the C-5 to include Bay Breeze,” Navarroza said, noting that the modification was estimated at another P2-billion outlay. He would not say if the government would still reconsider giving the subdivision a new lease in life.
He said talks were loose about the village’s beginnings before Sta. Lucia Realty bought it from the first developer.
“Some said the place was reserved by First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos for the ministers in the Cabinet,” Navarroza told Standard Today, adding that rumors were dime a dozen about the place which was ideal for a resort type of living.
Melgar eyes more pump stations and a polder dike to encircle the subdivision.
“But the government cannot allocate public funds for such flood control structures in a private village,” he said, suggesting that residents should file a complaint before the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.
Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group chief Robert Esquivel said the government must file a civil suit against the developer to seek clarification whether the property location is a public land or a private ownership.
“The lakeshore is a protected area of the government, but within the place are private homes of titled lots. Does it mean residents in the area are holding on to fake land titles?” he asked. “Homeowners must also sue their developer for spurious land titles.”
Barangay secretaries Daecelle Reyes, Antonio Dionisio and Vina Lusares of San Miguel, Wawa and Hagonoy, respectively, said Bay Breeze is still submerged in floodwaters two meters higher than the lake’s 12.6-meter normal water level.
Dionisio reckons about 150 to 200 residential units at Bay Breeze in Wawa alone.
Citing Laguna Lake Development Authority’s assessment, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando said water elevation at the lake continues to rise by 0.67 meters per month, and flooding is expected to be around until January next year.
He said the agency’s four major pumping stations at the Napindan Channel in Pasig City and Taguig-—Napindan, Tapayan, Wawa and Hagonoy—were barely enough to bail out water to a lake that brims over during a heavy downpour. Leo A. Estonilo and Rio N. Araja
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