TACLOBAN CITY — As criticisms continue to heap on the government’s ongoing flood control projects, not all voices are raised in protest.
While many residents express frustration over substandard or even ghost projects, among other issues transparency and accountability.
Filipinos are beginning to recognize the advantages these massive infrastructure efforts are bringing to their communities.
Among them are residents in the villages where the Leyte tide embankment project, dubbed as Great Wall of Leyte, which is a 38.12 kilometers-long national infrastructure hugging the coastal villages along Tacloban City, Palo and Tanauan towns.
For Rinalyn Linde, a sari-sari store owner in Cogon village in Palo town, the benefits of the tide embankment for them have long far outweighed the inconvenience.
“Han una, guti la nga uran, lagpas tuhod na an baha. Usahay mas hitaas pa kun naduro na gud pag-inuran. Sanglit, pirmi la kami nakaandam hadto pag-evacuate basta mag-uuran na,” Linde said.
(In the past, just a little rain, the flood was above the knee. Sometimes higher when it rains a lot. So, we were always ready to evacuate as soon as it started to rain.)
Meanwhile for Rina Vinegas, she said they were at first apprehensive of such a big project and its effect on their livelihood, mostly fishing, but she said she has come to appreciate the safety the structure now provides to their community.
“Dinhi ako nagdako hini nga lugar, pirmi kami dinhi ginbabaha hadto. Pero tikang mahuman ini nga proyekto, diri na kami duro nga nababaraka kun natikang na iton uuran,” Vinegas added.
(I grew up in this area, we used to flood here even on moderate rains. But since this project was completed, we don’t anymore worry too much when it starts to rain.)
The flood mitigation structure serves as a protection of communities in this city and the nearby towns of Palo and Tanauan from destructive waves. It has stainless steel flap gates and river gates with actuators.
It has a bike lane with railings, ramps and streetlights.
Still, skepticism lingers. Village chairperson Clarita Villalino of Baybay, San Jose in Tacloban City remains critical on how the tide embankment is being maintained to ensure it will serve its purpose over the years.
“Yung mga railings ng embankment, isa-isa nang kinakalawang. Siguro dahil na rin sa tubig-dagat. Pati yung ibang mga solar lights nasisira na rin,” Villalino said.
However, Villalino admits the project has provided them safety from storm surges and flooding during the rainy season.
The tide embankment, which stands four-meter high, came about after the 2013 storm surges whipped by Super Typhoon Yolanda’s (Haiyan) fierce winds wiped out neighborhoods in Leyte province. Villalino’s Baybay, San Jose area was among those flattened by the surge and the strong winds.
The massive structure is four-meter wide, with a bay walk and bicycle lanes and stretches from Diit village in Tacloban City to Cabuynan village in Tanauan town, which would protect 33,000 residents from big waves and flooding based on a 50-year projected population.
As floods continue to threaten many areas, Leyte’s tide embankment—its own version of the Great Wall—stands not only as a physical defense against nature’s wrath but also as a symbol of the difficult balancing act between protection and preservation, safety, and sustainability. (Ahlette C. Reyes / PIA Leyte)
