Revive Parañaque spillway project—Marcos

Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday called on the government to strongly consider reviving its spillway project to effectively address extreme flooding in Metro Manila during the rainy season.

Marcos was referring to the botched construction of the spillway project in Paranaque, which was intended to catch overflowing flood water from Laguna Lake before it exits to Manila Bay.

The Paranaque spillway project was one of the four floodway projects implemented during the administration of his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, but were not pursued by the next administrations.

On his Facebook page, the former senator recalled that in the 1970s extreme flooding in Metro Manila prompted the Marcos administration to plan the construction of four major floodways to accommodate all the water to avoid spilling to low-lying areas.

“The first spillway project was completed in 1983. The second and third floodway projects were completed in 1984 and 1985… and this Paranaque spillway would have been the fourth to be constructed in 1986, but it was discontinued because the government has changed,” Marcos lamented.

The former senator stressed that the urban planning envisioned by his father was a long-term solution to flooding in Metro Manila with expert urban planner Jun Palafox at its helm.

“I don’t think the flooding will disappear completely, but maybe we can do something to alleviate the damage and hardship brought by the floods to our countrymen,” Marcos concluded.