00:00In this video, you can see a strong stream of water in a creek in Antipolo City.
00:11The house is almost flooded, so the residents started to evacuate before they were completely flooded by the water.
00:20This is the first time that the water level has risen this much.
00:29These vehicles were one by one swept away by the water and were stranded on the road.
00:38The stream also crossed the barangay San Luis, Antipolo City.
00:42We are here on the third floor of the attic because my roof is already flooded.
00:46My neighbors' roofs are also flooded.
00:50San Luis, Antipolo City, rescue please.
00:53In both barangays, a part of the mountain collapsed and several houses were flooded.
01:00It was difficult for the five residents, including a one-year-old child.
01:05Hey, hey!
01:07Attack!
01:27The stream also landslided in the barangay San Jose, Antipolo City.
01:32Because of the thick fog, it was not easy to find the residents who were already drowned.
01:39Including those who are missing, including a pregnant woman.
01:46Can the victims be found?
01:50Another part of Rizal Province was also flooded.
01:55In Baras, Rizal, a firetruck overtook a road that flooded the river above the water.
02:04Some residents were trapped in the roof of the house and the rescue was difficult.
02:18In the town of San Mateo, a bridge was broken due to the strong water from the river.
02:24It is prohibited for any vehicle to pass through here.
02:27Because below this is more than half of the foundation of UCANA.
02:32So at any time, this can be given.
02:37What they are asking is, this is a high place.
02:40So the question is, why did it flood so quickly in some places in Rizal?
02:47They are talking about the interest of the corporations that do quarrying and mining and real estate versus the interest of public safety.
02:58We have to be much stricter about it.
03:00Now it's not a question of illegal activities, it's life and death over here.
03:06The laws are all there, it's the implementation and the enforcement.
03:11What is the reason for the flooding in many places in Rizal?
03:15There are a lot of people.
03:18The water is flooding.
03:33In the aftermath of the storm, a resident was called for help after the flood reached their roof.
03:42We are here on the 3rd floor of the attic because my roof is flooded.
03:46My neighbors' roofs are also flooded up to here.
03:50It's a disaster.
03:52We are rescuing, guys.
03:54We are rescuing.
03:55I have kids.
03:56Although we are on the 3rd floor, we are hoping that we can reach the 3rd floor.
04:00His children and siblings are with him on the roof of the house.
04:04I don't understand.
04:06It's important for the safety of my children and siblings here.
04:10San Luis, Antipolo City, for rescue, please.
04:19They just waited for the flood to reach their area.
04:22This is the road.
04:24This is the road.
04:26This is the road that we will use to go up.
04:29Because of the strong rain and the softness of the ground, landslides occurred in some areas in Antipolo City.
04:36This is the house of Siam Nabuang Buntis, who is Megalita's neighbor.
04:44He was with the two minors at that time.
04:51The rescuers and police helped to rescue Megalita and the two minors.
04:57You can reach it.
05:02But the rescue was not easy because of the continuous rain and the thick mud that covered the house.
05:12Just a moment.
05:13Cover it. Cover it.
05:15A body was rescued from the thick mud.
05:19This is where Megalita's body was found.
05:23Just a little bit. Just a little bit.
05:27Just a little bit.
05:30After a few minutes, the body of 15-year-old Lex was found.
05:39After more than an hour, the body of another victim, 13-year-old Junior, was found.
05:58They were rushed to the hospital, but the victims were already on the verge of death.
06:06Two days after the tragedy, we found Megalita's mother, Ms. Salvation.
06:12Later, my nephew ran away.
06:15He said, auntie, call the rescuers.
06:19He said that his sister was missing.
06:23The land was already taken from us.
06:28But I think it was still in good condition.
06:30Because the leaves were broken.
06:33And the wires were still there.
06:36My son was in a very difficult situation.
06:41I can't stop thinking about what happened to him.
06:46Because in the past, when I was in my place,
06:49I was really scared.
06:52And that land, ma'am,
06:54I'm really scared now.
06:57Because you need to rest.
06:59I really didn't expect that to happen.
07:03Megalita's eldest son was the one who was taken from her.
07:07It's hard to accept as a mother that you will lose your child.
07:12My grandson too.
07:15On the same day when Megalita's house was abandoned,
07:19there was a flash flood and landslide in the neighboring barangay of San Luis.
07:24A house was flooded.
07:28There are two more there, mom.
07:32In this cell phone video, residents who are worried can be heard.
07:37After the news, five members of the Negro family are missing.
07:41Including the one-year-old child.
07:44The rescuers immediately responded to find the missing family.
07:51A few moments later,
07:53The child was taken.
07:56A baby, right?
07:58The two members of the family were found,
08:00the one-year-old child and his mother, both dead.
08:06But three more members of the family are missing.
08:09But three more members of the family are missing.
08:13Because of the strong rain,
08:14the retrieval operation had to be stopped.
08:20The next day,
08:21the search for the three missing members was continued.
08:25The rescuers pulled the rope tied to a big rock.
08:30While the other rescuers were tying the rope,
08:34the rain poured again.
08:36That's why the retrieval operation had to be stopped.
08:41Because of the heavy rain,
08:44the retrieval operation had to be stopped.
08:47That's why the retrieval operation had to be stopped.
08:51Before 4 p.m.,
08:53the three missing members of the family were found under the rope.
08:58The father of the one-year-old child was the first to be recovered.
09:02But the retrieval operation had to be stopped before dark.
09:08We can't gamble the lives of our rescuers.
09:15Actually, these two days were tiring.
09:18But because they understood the feelings of the victims,
09:21they were forced to pull the rope.
09:24The next day, September 4,
09:26the Antipolo Police and the barangay officials were together.
09:29We went to the place where the three days of the retrieval operation were being conducted.
09:37It's been three days.
09:39There are five victims and two who are not yet arrested.
09:43The mother, who is 28 years old,
09:48her husband,
09:50and her one-year-old child were found.
09:52The grandmother, who is 55 years old,
09:55and the eight-year-old child are missing.
09:57Sir, we're here.
10:02When we arrived at the place,
10:06we were able to reach more than 20 rescuers
10:10who were helping to remove the ropes under the rope.
10:17We saw it here.
10:19We strongly believe that hopefully,
10:22we will be able to get one.
10:25But the sun is not yet setting.
10:28Suddenly, it started to rain heavily again.
10:31This is where the rescuers decided to stop the retrieval operation again.
10:36For now, we will stop the search for the cadaver.
10:41We will stop it, especially if the rain is heavy again.
10:44Because the water is getting stronger.
10:47In the distance,
10:49we noticed a man
10:50who seemed to be desperate to stop the operation.
10:57This is where we found out that he is the father of the victims of the flash flood.
11:02It's been three days since the flood.
11:05I'm angry.
11:09I can't do anything because it's been three days already.
11:14I'm thankful because they did everything.
11:17They did everything.
11:19It's not just the house.
11:22According to Ian,
11:24he was shocked to see that his family's house was flooded.
11:31I was on the other side of the road.
11:35My wife woke me up.
11:37When I woke up,
11:39there was no house on the other side of the road.
11:41It was a disaster.
11:59According to the official of Barangay San Luis,
12:02this is one of the worst effects of the flood they have experienced.
12:12They also said that they did not often visit their barangay.
12:16We did not identify it as a landslide prone area.
12:19Like any other areas here in Barangay San Luis,
12:22it is not included in the flood prone area.
12:26We will temporarily stop the search for the cadaver.
12:33Today, on September 5,
12:36the barangay stopped the search and retrieval operations
12:39for the two children of Ian.
12:42The barangay said that they will continue the search for the Philippine Coast Guard.
12:50The flood also felt in other parts of Rizal.
12:56Update here in our area, the canal is flooding, idols.
13:01The cork is also submerged.
13:03In San Mateo, Rizal,
13:05several residents were called for rescue due to the continuous flood.
13:08Rescuers are inside. There are many people.
13:12The canal is flooding.
13:14Some motorcycles were also submerged in the flood.
13:19The river also flooded in Barangay Silangan in San Mateo.
13:24Because of the strong flow of water,
13:26the motorcycles were not able to pass.
13:29Any vehicle is prohibited to pass here
13:32because below this is more than half of the foundation of Okana.
13:37At any time, this can be given away.
13:41This is also the case in the town of Rodriguez.
13:44The sea is flooding.
13:48Some residents carried their bicycles while crossing.
13:53There is a sea shortcut here.
13:57This river wall was also damaged due to the strong flow of water.
14:00In Baguio-Enteng,
14:02Rizal is one of the most affected provinces.
14:06In fact,
14:0810 out of 13 towns in Rizal were flooded
14:11according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council or NDRRMC.
14:16To be honest,
14:18this is not the first time that this has happened.
14:21In fact, this is the only time that a super typhoon has passed
14:24and other typhoons have also passed.
14:25Some parts of Rizal are always submerged.
14:27What they are wondering is,
14:29this place is already high,
14:31so the question is,
14:33why did it flood so fast in some places in Rizal?
14:40One of the main reasons for the flooding is deforestation
14:43or the erosion of the Sierra Madre forest,
14:46which serves as the backbone or foundation of the Rizal River.
14:51According to the DNR,
14:53more than 160,000 hectares of the Sierra Madre forest cover
14:57were lost from 1998 to 2010.
15:01That is equivalent to 1,400 hectares of forest cover
15:05that is lost every year.
15:08This is equivalent to more than 11 hectares of forest cover
15:12that is lost every year.
15:15This is equivalent to more than 11 hectares of forest cover
15:18that is lost every year.
15:20This is equivalent to more than 11,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
15:23This is equivalent to more than 11,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
15:25According to their studies,
15:27only 20% of the forest cover on that side is left.
15:31When it comes to the volume of rainwater that was sucked,
15:36because of the current situation because of the climate crisis,
15:42that is what I see as a huge contribution
15:47as to why the flooding is so severe.
15:49And as they say now,
15:51before it was not flooded,
15:53the mountains were also flooded.
15:56Some images viralized on social media
15:59showing the roots of the mountains in some of the Rizal houses.
16:04When properly examined,
16:06the quarrying sites and residential areas
16:10or subdivisions in the province
16:12if you cut down all the trees and expose them
16:17from interventions such as quarrying or clearing for subdivisions,
16:23the tree cover and the capacity of the upper watershed areas
16:30such as the basin areas will be reduced.
16:32That is the capacity to absorb the stormwater.
16:35And of course, the water flow to the creeks and river system will be faster.
16:41According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau,
16:4412 companies have a mineral processing permit.
16:4811 are in the town of Rodriguez,
16:50while the other is in Antipolo City.
16:54We interviewed the mayor of Rodriguez-Rizal
16:57and his position regarding the quarrying operation in their town.
17:02As among Calbeños, I want it to be gone.
17:06On my part, personally,
17:09we should fight this at the national level
17:14because it was closed before.
17:16But we are talking about the national level
17:19because there will be no more aggregates.
17:23Here in Mantalba, they are getting a lot.
17:26That's why it's really hard.
17:28We have to sacrifice something in favor of the other.
17:31They also wrote
17:32to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
17:35or DENR to stop all quarrying operations in Rodriguez.
17:41Just recently, during the Typhoon Karina,
17:45we have a letter request for the immediate stoppage
17:50of all quarrying operations and other related activities,
17:54including transport.
17:56The local government of Angono also approved
18:00the quarrying operation in their town.
18:03In fact, in 2018,
18:05the local government of Angono filed a petition to DENR
18:09to stop the renewal of the permit of a mining company in their town.
18:13They are ploughing the land in the upper portion,
18:17so we cannot avoid the surface runoff.
18:22If it rains heavily or there is a storm,
18:26especially now with climate change,
18:28the rainfall is stronger than usual in a season.
18:32So there is a tendency for their siltation ponds to overflow.
18:36DENR said they plan to call the operators of quarrying in Rizal.
18:42To ensure that they are not contributing in any way to local flooding,
18:46we will be much, much stricter in terms of putting up new quarries.
18:54There should be a moratorium or ban on additional or any more quarrying or mining
19:02and clear-cutting for residential or other purposes.
19:06This control is at both the LGU level, provincial level, and national level.
19:12So they need to discuss what is best for the interests of the corporations
19:20that do quarrying, mining, and real estate versus the interests of public safety.
19:28In the aerial inspection of President Bongbong Marcos,
19:31he also saw the barren parts of the mountains in Rizal.
19:35We have to be much stricter about it.
19:37Now it's not a question of illegal activities,
19:40it's life and death over here.
19:42The laws are all there, it's the implementation and the enforcement.
19:50This is a big challenge for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
19:55Our budget for 2025 is 26 billion pesos
20:00to protect all natural resources of the country.
20:04For DENR, we have a lot to learn.
20:06Not because we have incompetent people in DENR,
20:10but because we are protecting 30 million hectares,
20:167 million of which are forest lands.
20:21The forests and mountains serve as our shield against the strong typhoons.
20:28But due to the neglect and damage done here,
20:36even the mountainous areas are sinking.
20:40We are here on the 3rd floor of the attic because my roof is sinking.
20:45San Luis, Antipolo City, please rescue.
20:48What's worse, there are lives that are disappearing.
20:55The government said that they are spending a billion pesos to stop the widespread flooding.
21:01But the question is, why can't they stop the flooding in the country?
21:08Until next Saturday, I am Mackie Pulido.
21:12I am Jun Venaracion, and this is the Reporter's Notebook.
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