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
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