Late environment secretary Gina Lopez made rounds on social media for her warning of the denuded Marikina Watershed back in 2017, especially amid the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses that flooded Metro Manila and various parts of Luzon.

In her Facebook post back in 2017, Lopez posted aerial images of the watershed, noting that it is imperative to stop illegal quarrying in the protected area and start reforestation because it is the Metro Manila’s first line of defense against rainwater.

“As long as there is quarrying there and the Marikina Watershed is denuded, the Pasig River water will be brown!! And it will become more and more shallow – and it will cause flooding in Metro Manila!” she wrote. “It is imperative that the Marikina Watershed is reforested!!!!!”

The Marikina Watershed Reservation as declared a protected area under Proclamation 296 issued in 2001.

However, in October, conservationists from Masungi Georeserve said a group of armed guards from a private company blocked the

It was granted protection under Republic Act no. 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992. This means the area is “protected against destructive human exploitation.”

The cities of Marikina, Pasig, as well as Cagayan and Isabela provinces were submerged in deadly flooding at the onset of typhoon Ulysses. To date, it has claimed the lives of 67 individuals, according to the latest update from the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Region 2 reported the most number of deaths so far at 22, followed by Calabarzon with 17 deaths. Ten deaths were also reported in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), while the National Capital Region and Bicol region reporting eight deaths in their respective areas. Another two were found dead in Region 3.