Ilang bahagi ng bundok at gubat sa Rizal, kalbo na dahil umano sa quarrying | Reporter’s Notebook
Aired (September 7, 2024): Sa aerial inspection na ginawa ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos matapos ang bagyong #EntengPH, nakita niya mismo ang mga kalbong bahagi ng bundok sa Rizal. Makikita rin sa ilang aerial shot ang mga nakalbong gubat dahil daw sa quarrying. Ano ang kinalaman nito sa tumitinding pagbaha sa probinsya at ano ang tugon ng pamahalaan dito?
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00:00The typhoon also hit other parts of Rizal.
00:08Update here in our area, the bridge is sinking.
00:11Idols, the porch is also sinking.
00:14In San Mateo, Rizal, some residents were called for rescue because of the continuous flood.
00:20Please rescue those inside, there are a lot of people.
00:23The bridge is sinking, it's sinking.
00:26Some motorcycles also sank in the flood.
00:30The river also sank in Barangay Silangan in San Mateo.
00:35Because of the strong flow of water, the motorcycles were not able to pass.
00:40It is prohibited for any vehicle to pass through here
00:43because below this is more than half of the foundation of Ukana.
00:48So at any time, this can be given.
00:52According to the town of Rodriguez, the sea level has risen.
00:58Some residents carried their bicycles while crossing.
01:04There is a shortcut here to the sea.
01:07This river wall was also damaged by the strong flow of water.
01:17In the impact of the typhoon, Rizal was one of the most affected provinces.
01:24In fact, 10 out of 13 towns in Rizal were affected by the flood
01:28according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council or NDRRMC.
01:34To be honest, this is not the first time this has happened.
01:38In fact, this is the only time that a super typhoon has passed
01:41and other typhoons have passed through the country.
01:43Some parts of Rizal are always sinking.
01:45What they are asking is, this is a high place,
01:48so the question of some is, why did it flood so quickly in some places in Rizal?
01:58One of the main causes of flooding is deforestation
02:01or the erosion of the Sierra Madre forest,
02:04which serves as the backbone or barrier of the Luzon
02:07when there is a strong typhoon coming.
02:10According to the DNR, more than 160,000 hectares of the Sierra Madre forest cover
02:17were lost from 1998 to 2010.
02:21That is equivalent to 1,400 hectares of forest cover that is lost every year.
02:29This is equivalent to more than 11,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
02:34It is devastating.
02:35In their studies, only 20% of the forest cover is left on that side.
02:42When the volume of rainwater that was released
02:47because of the current situation, because of the climate crisis,
02:53that is what I see as a huge contribution as to why the flooding is so severe.
03:00And as they say now, it used to not flood, even the mountains were flooded.
03:07Some images viralized on social media
03:10showing the roots of the mountains in some of the towns of Rizal.
03:16When properly examined,
03:17quarrying sites and residential areas or subdivisions in the province are being developed.
03:23If you cut all the trees and expose them
03:28from interventions such as quarrying or clearing for subdivision,
03:34the tree cover and the capacity of the upper watershed areas and basin areas will be reduced.
03:43It has the capacity to absorb stormwater.
03:46And of course, the water will flow faster to the creeks and river system.
03:53According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau,
03:5512 companies have a mineral processing permit.
03:5911 are in the town of Rodriguez,
04:01the other one is in Antipolo City.
04:05We interviewed the mayor of Rodriguez, Rizal
04:08and his position regarding the quarrying operation in their town.
04:13As a Montalbanian, of course, I want it to disappear.
04:17On my part, personally, what we should emphasize here is the national level.
04:24Because it was closed before,
04:28but what we are talking about is the national level
04:30because there are no more aggregates.
04:34Here in Montalban, they are collecting a lot.
04:36That's why it's really hard.
04:38We have to sacrifice something in favor of the other.
04:42They also wrote to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR
04:47to stop all quarrying operations in Rodriguez.
04:51Recently, during the typhoon Karina,
04:55we have a letter request for the immediate stoppage of all quarrying operations
05:02and other related activities, including transport.
05:08The local government of Angono also approved the quarrying operation in their area.
05:13In fact, in 2018, the petition of the local government of Angono to the DENR
05:19to stop the renewal of the permit of a mining company in their area.
05:25They are ploughing the land in the upper portion,
05:28so we cannot avoid the surface runoff.
05:33We cannot avoid it.
05:34If it rains heavily or there is a typhoon,
05:37especially now, climate change,
05:39the rainfall is stronger than the usual rain in a season.
05:43So there is a tendency for their siltation ponds to overflow.
05:47According to the DENR,
05:49they plan to call the quarrying operators in Rizal.
05:53To ensure that they are not contributing in any way to local flooding,
05:58we will be much, much stricter in terms of putting up new quarries.
06:05There should be a moratorium or ban on additional or any more quarrying or mining
06:13and clear-cutting for residential or other purposes.
06:17Its control is both at the LGU level, provincial level, and national level.
06:24They need to talk about what is best for the interests of corporations
06:31that do quarrying, mining, and real estate versus the interests of public safety.
06:38In the aerial inspection of President Bongbong Marcos,
06:41he also saw the barren parts of the mountains in Rizal.
06:45We have to be much stricter about it.
06:47Now, it's not a question of illegal activities.
06:51It's life and death over here.
06:53The laws are all there.
06:54It's the implementation and enforcement.
07:01This is a big challenge for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
07:07Our budget for 2025 is 26 billion pesos
07:11to protect all natural resources of the country.
07:15For DNR, we have a lot to learn.
07:18Not because we have incompetent people in DNR,
07:21but because we are protecting 30 million hectares,
07:277 million of which are forest land.
07:32The forests and mountains serve as our cover
07:37against the strong typhoons.
07:40But because of the neglect and damage done here,
07:47the mountainous areas are sinking.
07:51We are here on the third floor of the attic because my roof is sinking.
07:56San Luis, Antipolo City, please rescue.
07:59In Masaklat, there are lives lost.
08:06The government said that they are spending a billion pesos
08:09to stop the widespread flooding.
08:14But the question is,
08:15why is the sinking of the country still not stopped?
08:29For more UN videos visit www.un.org