Last August 6 of this year, strong monsoon rains battered several areas in Luzon and Metro Manila. Several cities and towns in the Philippines were heavily-flooded for days due to such Luzon-wide monsoon rains. But flooding in most of the said areas had subsided already after one week. However, some places near the Laguna Lake in the provinces of Rizal and Laguna are still flooded up to now. There were no storm-signals in Southern Luzon since the last week of August, but the villages near the Laguna Lake are still flooded up to the present time. Some daily thunderstorms from September 1 until today- September 16 added more waters to the already flooded areas near the Laguna Lake. One of such places that have been flooded since August 6 is Maryland Subdivision.

Some few hours ago, about 7 in the morning, my two friends and I went to Maryland Subdivision in Landayan District, San Pedro Town, Laguna Province to take a closer look at the ‘flooding’ in such place. Today is September 16, 2012 here in the Philippines. We rented a ‘make-shift boat’ so we can tour the whole subdivision. It took us about nearly 4 hours to completely tour the flooded subdivision. There were no motor boats available in the said place. People there use “make-shift boats” as means of transportation. My friends and I were quite shocked to find out that the whole Maryland Subdivision has been flooded for more than one month now. The residents there are using or renting ‘make-shift boats’ as means of transportation. We found out that the whole subdivision has been in flood-waters for several weeks now since August 6. Some residents in the area have already taken refuge in evacuation centers. But most residents there decided to stay in their homes to protect their properties.

Maryland Subdivision is actually a middle-class place in Laguna Province. San Pedro Town in Laguna is a haven for middle-class subdivisions and “exclusive villages.” But the problem with Maryland is that it was built near the Laguna Lake. I wonder how real-estate developers were able to put up subdivisions near the Laguna Lake? It’s obvious that areas near a huge body of water like a river or a lake are prone to flooding. I don’t think subdivisions and other housing projects should be built near hazardous places like volcanoes, rivers, lakes, landslide-prone hills, and bay-side areas. Such ‘hot spots’ are quite prone to natural calamities that can easily ruin people’s lives and properties. Maryland today depicts how a subdivision near a huge body of water faces the daily risk of submerging into waters if strong rains or powerful storms strike.

The national government of the Philippines and the provincial government in Laguna want to continue the plan of dredging the Laguna Lake in order to prevent it from overflowing again and again during rainy days. According to environmentalist groups from Laguna, “Due to deforestation, pollutions, improper means of disposing garbage, lack of dikes to protect the towns near the lake, and the clogging of several waterways in the province, the places near Laguna Lake are now suffering from flashfloods and flooded villages in such places would remain submerged in floodwaters for 2 or 3 months.” Various environmentalist groups from the Laguna Province want the national government to implement effectively the projects that can revive the ‘dying lake’. Among such projects are: dredging, the construction of 100-kilometer ring-dike from Taytay City in Rizal to Sta.Cruz in Laguna, massive reforestation, and eco-tourism projects. The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), the government agency in charge of such visionary projects, promised the residents who are living near the Laguna Lake that it would work hard this year and in the coming year to implement the said projects.

Meanwhile Maryland Subdivision in Landayan Distric, San Pedro, Laguna remains flooded up to this day. The subdivision has been under floodwaters for more than one month now. While some people in that subdivision have already decided to temporarily take shelter in evacuation centers, most residents there decided to stay in order to protect and secure their appliances, vehicles, and even businesses. The residents who stayed in the subdivision now face the threats of having such sicknesses like leptospirosis, diarrhea, dengue fever, amoebiasis, cholera and other water-related diseases. Besides, it would be difficult to transport would-be patients or would-be accident victims out of such area since the streets there are still flooded and “make-shift boats” are the only means of transportation in the said place. The height or level of flooding in the area is from 1 foot up to more than 3 feet. Many streets there still have floodwaters up to the waistline. The “middle-class area” has now turned into some kind of a lake. Experts say that flooding in that subdivision and other places near the Laguna Lake might remain from 2 to 3 months before the floodwaters actually subside. I do hope that the national government, the municipal council of San Pedro Town, and the provincial government of Laguna will cooperate together in helping the residents of Maryland Subdivision in Landayn, San Pedro, Laguna. I think the national government should send a team of scientists and engineers in the said subdivision to search for means of making the floodwaters subside faster in such area. I hope the national government can bring in some “technical experts” to the said area in order to help eliminate the floodwaters there. The said subdivision has been flooded for several weeks now.

(NOTE: I requested my 2 friends, Robert Ong and Robin Mercado, to accompany me in taking photos and videos about the ‘flooding’ in Maryland Subdivision, Landayan District, San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines. I decided to go there this morning, and that was around 7 a.m., because I heard the news some 2 days ago about the ‘more-than-one-month flooding’ in the said area from some fellow-community volunteers who are doing relief-operations for the victims of the August 6 monsoon rains in Laguna. It would be recalled that powerful monsoon rains battered many parts of Luzon last August 6 here in the Philippines. I went to Maryland Subdivision this morning to personally take photos and videos about the one-month flooding in that area. I used my own digital camera in taking photos and videos of the flooding in the said subdivision. The flooding there was aggravated by the daily thunderstorms that have been occurring in the province of Laguna since September 1. Though the thunderstorms were not that strong, Laguna has been experiencing frequent rains this month of September. August and September are considered here in the Philippines as months when frequent rains occur on a daily basis. But as I’ve said, the thunderstorms that struck Laguna these past few weeks were not that strong. However, Laguna and the rest of Southern Luzon have been frequented by thunderstorms since September 1 up to this day- September 16, 2012.

My friends and I brought along some anti-mosquito lotions, boots, hand-sanitizers, bottles of alcohol and plaster-strips that we could use to protect ourselves from certain wound-infections or diseases.  We also brought along raincoats and umbrellas because September is a rainy month here in the Philippines. I was the one who took pictures and videos of the flooding in this i-Report. My friend Robin Mercado helped me out in recording some videos about my comments on the flooding in the said area. He helped me in focusing the digital camera towards me when I was talking about the more-than-one-month flooding in the said subdivision. But I was the one who took the pictures and videos of the flooding in the said area. The whole subdivision has been under floodwaters for more than one month now! The whole place was devastated by floodwaters. My friends and I traveled around the whole subdivision by renting a “make-shift boat.” We rode on that boat for almost 4 hours, from 7: 05 until 11:05 in the morning, just to take a look at the said flooding in that place. Today is Sunday, September 16, 2012 here in the Philippines. I was lucky that I was able to take some pictures and videos of the flooding while the sun was out this morning, because it rained in that area from around 9 until 10: 25 a.m. The floodwaters in the said area are obviously stinky and dirty. Rainy season in the Philippines usually lasts from the middle part of June until the middle part of November. Some experts say that the flooding in such subdivision, just like the other villages near the Laguna Lake, would last for about 3 months. That means the residents in Maryland Subdivision would still wait for another 2 months before the floodwaters would subside completely in their area.)