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(Second of three parts)
ILIGAN CITY, Philippines — In Barangay Ubaldo Laya, along the eastern bank of the Iligan River, a government flood control project was blamed for bringing floods to an area that was previously safe.
Village resident Adelfa Mansanera, 62, said her neighborhood in Purok 14 was not affected by Typhoon Sendong (international name: Washi) in 2011, but she observed that after the construction of a flood control project in the barangay, their side of the river became more vulnerable and was eventually washed out by floodwaters.
“During Sendong, our homes here were not flooded. The water level rose, but it did not overflow into our area because there was no riprap yet on the opposite side. When the riprap was later constructed on that side, our community became the one affected by flooding,” she said in the vernacular.
