MANILA: The Metro Manila Council (MMC) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will meet on Wednesday to decide whether a state of calamity needs to be declared in the National Capital Region (NCR) as Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon or ‘habagat’ continued to dump heavy rains on the metropolis.
During a situation briefing on the effects of Carina and the ‘habagat,’ Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos recommended to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to put Metro Manila under a state of calamity amid widespread flooding in various cities in the capital region.
But according to the President, it is the local chief executives of NCR, through the MMC. who will decide whether a state of calamity will be declared in the region.
‘It’s up to local communities to decide because they know best, they know best what they need,’ Marcos told reporters in a media interview after the situation briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
The declaration of a state of calamity will help loc
al governments access their calamity funds, the President explained.
Parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces were flooded on Wednesday amid the heavy overnight rains.
In his report during the briefing, Abalos said large parts of the low-lying cities in Metro Manila are submerged in floodwaters, noting that 70 percent of areas in Navotas City are flooded; 80 percent in Malabon City; and 60 percent in Valenzuela City.
Source: Philippines News Agency
