Another C-5 road project controversy erupts
by Carmela Fonbuena, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 07/01/2009 8:54 PM
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DPWH project endangers Metro Manila’s water supply?
MANILA - A new Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) project extending the C-5 road in Quezon City could damage three main underground aqueducts supplying water to Metro Manila, according to some residents in Old Balara, Quezon City.
On Wednesday, Quezon City District Rep. Matias Defensor led the residents in filing a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a temporary restraining order on the “illegal” project.
The road project, which seeks to connect the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), could affect three pipes which distribute water to an estimated eight million residents in Manila, Mandaluyong, Makati, Marikina, Quezon City, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig and several towns in Rizal province.
“It would be highly dangerous to construct a road over and above the aqueducts owing to the fact that the constant indiscriminate usage of the proposed road project, with heavy trucks passing over it every now and then, might cause damage to said aqueducts and disrupt water supply to all Metro Manila residents,” the residents said in their petition.
“It must be noted that water is a lot more important necessity than the need for a wider road,” Rep. Defensor added.
‘Ebdane should resign’
Defensor, an administration ally, assailed Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane’s lack of "respect for the law.” He said it was sufficient reason to call for Ebdane’s resignation.
According to Defensor, Ebdane—along with 32 cops bearing armalites—forcibly entered the area on Tuesday.
Defensors’ constituents went to his house and reported the incident. They said heavy equipment was used that day.
“Winasak ang pader, binungkal ang lupa,” said Defensor, who visited the site himself.
Defensor said they were surprised that the Old Balara was chosen for the road extension project.
Defensor said the residents thought it was already agreed upon that the extension project will pass through UP Ripada area—which is within the University of the Philippine campus—instead of Old Balara.
MMDA, MWSS air views
Defensor said it was the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), not the DPWH, which was supposed to be the lead agency for the project.
He noted that MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando wrote Pook Amorsolo barangay captain Isabelita Gravides and told her that it had chosen UP Ripada over Old Balara.
The extension project was going to affect the R. Magsaysay Street, which traverses UP Ripada areas, and connect it to Commonweath Avenue. This was the product of a series of consultations on the project.
Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) administrator Diosdado Jose Allado had also informed Malacañang about the risks of having the project pass through the Old Balara.
“The integrity of the pipes underneath is compromised in cases of heavy loadings. The area should be insulated from disruptions and disturbances such as increased traffic, construction activities, and heavy loadings, as the subject areas were not technically designed to withstand such dynamic activities,” he said in a letter to Malacañang.
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