Even though Baguio City was placed under Wind Signal No. 1, the city still experienced strong winds and rains brought by Typhoon Julian.  

Around six o’clock last night, September 29, heavy rainfall was experienced, accompanied by the surge of water and garbage that clogged the siltation dam.  

They collected about five tons of garbage.

According to Punong Barangay Silvino Cominga Jr. of Barangay Lower Rock Quarry, “We collected a lot of garbage yesterday, that’s the problem here because our constituents, even from other barangays, keep doing this.”

Although they clean the siltation dam every Saturday, some residents still throw their garbage into the river.

“We’ve been complaining about this, imagine we found plywood and roofing sheets, and we had to remove them,” Coming added.

Garbage is still seen as a major problem, which is why even with just a little rain, the water level here at the siltation dam rises.

This morning, September 30, they continued with the cleanup efforts.  

They collected about one ton of garbage today.

“What we do is, when the rain subsides, we go down to clean, and then when the rain intensifies, we go back up. We kept doing that until the evening. We left here around 9 pm,” says Cominga.

They continue to appeal to the public to stop throwing garbage into the rivers.

A road in Barangay Irisan in Baguio City turned into a river around six last night.

Vehicles were stranded due to the rushing floodwaters, which were also carrying rocks.

Those came from two collapsed riprap walls.

This was due to the continuous heavy rains in the city.

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) evacuated two families affected by the landslide.

Some trees were also uprooted in the city. 

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong stated, “We provided them with vehicles to remove the rocks. There was also a drainage system in Chapis Village that accumulated waste and debris, which was cleaned up by the CEO. As of last night, everything was cleared.”

Classes were also canceled today, Monday, September 30, in the city.

**Vanessa Bugtong