15 November - City of Malolos, Bulacan
Site Visit Summary
The North Manila Bay Flood Protection Strategy team commenced the site visit in the City of Malolos.The team had a coordination meeting with the Office of the mayor's representative to discuss about the planned activity. Later that day, there was a courtesy call with the Mayor, the team discussed the project and its benefits. Mayor Gatchalian is also an advocate of Nature-based Solutions wherein a future mangrove planting project in Manila bay with 50,000 mangrove species will start by December 2021.
The second part of the day consisted out of a site visit in Barangay Pmarawan. Prior to the visit, the team extended the courtesy call to the Barangay officials present in Pamarawan Barangay Hall. The team coordinated the purpose of the site visit, interview the community, site inspection in Manila Bay, and drone flying. Using the map given by the team (see figure below), the site team decided to take route 'B' for site inspection.
Courtesy Call to Barangay Captain in Pamawaran (left) and Ocular route (right)
As the team followed Route B, it was observed that the area is rich of ecological features such as saltpans, shallow fishponds, tidal flats, mangroves, migratory species, and small-scale fisheries and shellfish production in the area (see site visit snapshots).
Existing mangroves (left) and small-scale shellfish production (right)
During the site visit, a focus group discussion with stakeholders composed of 30 fisherfolks from various barangay in Malolos were also conducted. The team presented the concept of Nature-based solutions for flood protection, and received a positive feedback. They are very cooperative in giving
information, sharing their experience about flooding, and providing insights about North Manila Bay flood protection strategy.
Focus Group Discussion with Fisherfolks
In parallel with the focus group discussion various (random) people were interviewed in each Barangay which resulted in the household survey overview as can be seen in the Household Survey part of this iReport. Another part of the team did a survey type of site visit in which they collected photographic and drone (video) material which can be used to gather a better understanding of the area for people who have
not been on the site visit.
Interview in Barangay Pamarawan
Site Visit Snapshots
Drone shot at Manila Bay (upper left), Mangroves and Nipa (lower and upper right), and oyster farm for livelihood (lower left)