With the national government set to delve into discussions pertaining to the national budget for 2027, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco affirmed his commitment to ensuring that the prominent challenges his constituents face are addressed.

During an interview on the DAILY TRIBUNE’s Straight Talk program, Tiangco said that there have been vast improvements from when he was first elected as a public official in Navotas.

The solon said that the most prominent issue that plagued the small city that was just a little over 10 square kilometers was the annual flooding due to its low elevation from sea level.

Due to the city’s alignment along the shoreline of Manila Bay, it consistently gets subjected to heavy downpours and high tides, with disaster risk agencies noting that a large portion of Navotas was susceptible to submersion.

While the problem had since been addressed with the establishment of a flood gate along the coast, Tiangco explained that the structure needed repairs and was already set for rehabilitation.

“We used to be flooded 160 days a year. Even when the sun shined, as long as it was high tide, we were flooded. That was where we came from. We have already resolved the flooding due to high tides, as long as the flood gate did not break down,” he said.

In order to address the issue, the solon revealed that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was actively studying possibly adding a second flood gate.

Housing problem

Aside from flooding, Tiangco said that another concern that he has continuously sought to address was the issue when it came to the lack of housing.

He explained that because of the city’s small land mass, projects intended for flood aversion such as dikes cut through the homes of informal settlers.

In response, Tiangco said that they had devised a system wherein lots of land were bought by the local government for the construction of five-story residential complexes.

Funding for the project was reportedly sourced from the National Housing Authority (NHA) through coordination at the House of Representatives.

Tiangco clarified that the properties they built were not meant to be owned; instead, residents are charged just P300 per month.

The solon said that the system was formed because of a problem he observed with the previous housing project of the NHA wherein the properties were sold to residents.

“The problem was, even if you placed an encumbrance that you can not sell the property, they would use it for mortgages,” he said.

“Later on, when they lose the property, they go back to squatting,” he added.

An additional problem to such a scenario was that the housing agency only deemed individuals eligible for its socialized housing a single time.

In an effort to ensure that such communities remained orderly, Tiangco said that various measures were observed, such as subjecting entire families to a mandatory drug test before occupying the property.