On Metro Manila Area Floods

ON MMA FLOODS

A Layman’s View/ Summary Appreciation of

What has Happened to the MMA Built Environment and

Suggested Flood-related Policy for Its Future Transformation

(Armando N. Alli using material processed from various sources, August 2012)

A.   Flood. A flood refers to the overflow of the huge amount of water onto land that has a higher elevation as compared to the normal level of water at a waterway, reservoir or body of water (natural or artificial), often bringing death and widespread devastation.  Floods are possibly one of the most common natural disasters and is generally classifiable under three (3) types i.e. natural, man-made and catastrophic.

RA 6716 Rainwater Collection

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6716
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER WELLS, RAINWATER COLLECTORS, DEVELOPMENT OF SPRINGS AND REHABILITATION OF EXISTING WATER WELLS IN ALL BARANGAYS IN THE PHILIPPINES

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared to be the national policy to promote the quality of life of every Filipino through the provision of adequate social service including, but not limited to, the provision of adequate potable water supply made conveniently available to every barangay in the country.

Boat from Plastic Bottles

 
Bottles Up is a cute, little plastic bottle boat crafted by the owner and employees of the Rain Tree Lodge - an eco backpacker’s hotel on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji.

Characteristics of a Disaster-resilient Community: A Guidance Note

This guidance note is for government and civil society organisations working on disaster risk reduction (DRR)initiatives at community level, in partnership with vulnerable communities. It shows what a ‘disaster-resilient community’ might consist of, by setting out the many different elements of resilience.

It also provides some ideas about how to progress towards resilience. The version of the guidance note you are reading is a pilot version, based on a desk study and discussions with experts. This is now being tested in the field and it will be revised in the light of those experiences. Everyone is welcome to use the note, and feedback is similarly welcome.

How to Build Disaster Resilient Communities

Chris D. Poland, S.E.

Healthy cities continuously grow by driving economic development while protecting cultural heritage. Success, in part, depends on a healthy built environment that is rooted in contemporary urban planning, sustainability and disaster resilience. Our job, as design professionals, is to provide a built environment that supports all of those goals. Our designs need to be efficient, economical, adaptive, sustainable, and disaster resilient. We are doing well on all fronts except for the last. We need to develop, and include in the code, provisions that will provide the buildings and lifelines needed to support disaster resilience.

Resilient communities have a credible disaster response plan that assures a place and ability to govern after a disaster has struck. Their power, water, and communication networks begin operating again shortly after a disaster and people can stay in their homes, travel to where they need to be, and resume a fairly normal living routine within weeks. The return to a "new" normal can then occur within a few years. While every building should protect its occupants from harm, a select few buildings need to remain operational and a larger group needs to be at least usable during repair. Lifeline systems must be restored quickly to support response and reconstruction.

RA 10121 Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010

REPUBLIC ACT No. 10121

AN ACT STRENGTHENING THE PHILIPPINE DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, PROVIDING FOR THE NATIONAL DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK AND INSTITUTIONALIZING THE NATIONAL DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010".

PD 296 Prohibition on River Easement Encroachment

MALACAÑANG M a n i l a
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 296 September 18, 1973

DIRECTING ALL PERSONS, NATURAL OR JURIDICAL, TO RENOUNCE POSSESSION AND MOVE OUT OF PORTIONS OF RIVERS, CREEKS, ESTEROS, DRAINAGE CHANNELS AND OTHER SIMILAR WATERWAYS ENCROACHED UPON BY THEM AND PRESCRIBING PENALTY FOR VIOLATION HEREOF

WHEREAS, floods are among the most destructive of natural calamities, in the wake of chain reactions invariably lead to misery, pestilence, privation, hunger and want; WHEREAS, the ever-worsening floods in the country today are to a great extent caused by unabated illegal encroachments on rivers, creeks, esteros and other drainage channels, resulting in the constriction and partial or complete closure thereof and the corresponding reduction of drainage capacity;