23/07/2025
๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฌ
These days, it doesnโt take much to see a flood. Sometimes itโs a strong downpour. Other times, just steady afternoon rain. Water seeping into homes or roads has become a common occurrence in many communities in our country.
And yet, flood control isnโt a forgotten cause. Over 4,700 flood control projects have been completed across the Philippines throughout the years. Metro Manila has its Manggahan Floodway, hundreds of pumping stations, and more than a thousand real-time monitoring systems. Since 2022, flood control programs have received approximately โฑ556 billion, nearly half of the total flood spending from the past two decades combined.
But despite these investments, the flooding situation has grown worse especially during typhoons and monsoon seasons. One major factor of this is the lack of a national wide flood control master plan. Because according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) the country does not have a unified national flood control master plan, only 18 separate plans exist for major river basins, and even these are still in the process of being updated.
We build more, yet waters rise faster. Because flooding isnโt just about engineering. Itโs also about everything around it, the land, the planning, the decisions made long before the rain falls.
If we are to talk about solutions, we cannot just speak of structures. We must speak of real planning. Not the kind that reacts after the floods arrive, but the kind that asks where we build, how we build, and what we preserve before breaking ground.
With this Urban development must follow strict zoning laws that account for natural drainage. Infrastructures must align with topography, not just land prices and road access. Green buffer zones and water basins must be integrated into cities, not treated as optional. Local governments must be equipped not only to build but to enforce. And projects should not be rolled out in isolation, but integrated into national strategies that treat the environment as a living partner.
This doesnโt mean giving up on infrastructure. It means combining it with discipline. With a willingness to think long-term rather than election to election. Because in the end, itโs not just property or roads that are at risk, it's the lives of the Filipinos . Every flooded street, every overflowing river, is a reminder that behind every failed plan is a family caught in the water.
โ๐ป/๐จ: Gabriel Daniel Montaรฑo
