Metro Manila Land Value After Typhoon Ondoy

Last year, my wife and I seriously considered getting a loan from Pag-Ibig Fund to get a small house for our family. Among the sites we considered were Antipolo, Marikina, Pasig, Cavite and Fairview in QC. Most of the houses we liked placed on ads were a bit expensive and we were not able to start because we need to save for the 10-20% downpayment. I guess it was a blessing in disguise, if we had the money then, we could have bought a house in Marikina or Pasig area. Although they were a bit more expensive than houses in Antipolo, the locations were near to our place of work. After Typhoon Ondoy, Marikina and Pasig were the hardest hit within Metro Manila and after the casualties and death, many are still in the hospital fighting for their lives from diseases they got from the floods.

I could just imagine people who were selling the houses in new subdivisions in Pasig and Marikina which were priced between 2-4 million. A similar townhouse we liked in Antipolo priced at 1.6 million was priced around 2.5-3 million in Pasig. The townhouses were almost sold out and I pity people who just bought their house in Pasig. Pasig area was priced high because of its proximity to Makati, Mandaluyong and Quezon City area but after the floods, what will be the land value per sq. meter in Pasig. Even in Marikina, houses in Provident Village were upscale since it is one of the prime properties in the city. Definitely, people who are looking to buy a house would definitely avoid Pasig and Marikina areas now.

There were also several areas in Quezon City that were flooded during Typhoon Ondoy. Manila, Malabon, Kalookan, some parts of Makati and Taguig were also flooded. I did not hear any serious flooding in Cavite and Laguna areas except Sta. Cruz which was too far. Does this mean it is safe to consider investing a property in Cavite and Laguna?

Land values started to increase whenever a mall, school or an upscale subdivision gets constructed. This is a factor to consider but realty companies should also consider elevation, good drainage and proper zoning. Ordinary people like me do not know these things and we get to be carried away whenever the land is developed by a well known real estate company. How about condominums? Is it now safe to say that it is better to invest in a condo so there is a less chance of being flooded? What if the area gets flooded too? Is it better to be stranded than to see your house gets flooded?

Typhoon Ondoy

By this time, there could have been a lot of stories on what happened last Saturday to thousands of Metro Manila residents and nearby provinces that were directly hit by the typhoon. Up to this time, several areas and subdivisions are still submerged with flood waters caused by the typhoon. What can we do? We can help through donations or volunteer work. ABSCBN and GMA 7 are asking donations and volunteers and we can help by participating in their relief efforts.

What happened is definitely nature showing us that no matter how advanced our technology is, in the end nature will still prevail. What we can do is take care of our environment and pray that we can recover quickly from natural calamities. If we watched the news for the past 2 days, one can observe that flood waters are usually brown in color. These waters are from the mountains near Rizal, Bulacan, Tarlac and Pampanga. The Sierra Madre mountain range starts in Northern Luzon and ends in Rizal and Laguna. Brown waters came down from the mountains collecting silt and mud. The flood water we see around Pasig and Marikina are heavily silted which only means water came from the mountains going to the river and causing it to everflow. Silt turns into mud which makes rivers turn shallow and clog areas in addition to the garbage thrown by residents near river areas. What causes silt and mud to go to the rivers? Soil is loosened because of heavy logging, mining and irresponsible actions we do to our mountains. Can we say now that nature is responsible to the calmity we experienced for the past 2 days? Definitely not. Nature is there to remind us. It is just unfortunate that we still have to learn our lesson after so many deaths and properties damaged.

Maybe after we donate and do volunteer work, we should think long term and consider the situation very well. Please join efforts in reforestation and tree planting so we can make a difference to the generations ahead us. Please spread information that beyond the natural calamity and heavy rainfall we experienced, we still need to spread the information in preserving our environment. Join forest conservation efforts now and make a difference in the future.