Baguio village flooded after downpour, no thanks to plastic waste

BAGUIO, Philippines – After a sudden heavy downpour, images of sunken and floating cars are fairly common in most places. 

But in Baguio? The highest metropolitan city in the country?

Images of about a dozen vehicles submerged in murky water at a village in Baguio had been shared almost 5,000 times on social media. 

The downpour that caused it wasn’t even that heavy. But it hasn’t rained that strongly in Baguio for almost two months.

The downpour, which occurred at almost 2:30 pm on Wednesday, March 27, was preceded by a hailstorm.

The village where the particular flooding occurred was City Camp Lagoon.

It turned out that the drainage tunnel in the area was clogged by tons of mostly plastic waste.

“We must dispose of our garbage properly to avoid clogging our canals and to prevent flooding,” said Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong.

He also wanted an investigation into why that particular area became a parking space.

The clearing was done after three hours, causing the flood to subside.

Magalong said that the incident was a “compelling lesson on the importance of proper trash disposal.”

Flooding from the City Camp Lagoon was a regular thing, but the clearing of the tunnel and the recent installation of the steel grates to filter solid waste prevented such incidents.

Heavy rains were also experienced in other parched Cordillera provinces, like the Mountain Province and Kalinga. – Rappler.com