Flooding

"Here’s what we can do."

The flooding which enveloped most of Metro Manila and Cagayan Valley 

brought about by the three typhoons which swept through Luzon over the 

past two weeks has once again focused people's attention if not anger over 

the seeming inability of successive administrations since the Marcos years to finally put in place the flood control and mitigation master plans which have been in place for decades.

World-renowned architect and urban planner Felino "Jun"Palafox, Jr. recalls that in the mid '70s the then Department of Public Works, Transportation and Communications under Secretary David Consunji put together an Urban Renewal and Management Master Plan for Metro Manila and its influence areas which included a flood control and mitigation plan meant to address the massive losses brought about by yearly flooding in the national capital and region and environs. 

Aside from controlling tree cutting and illegal logging in the Sierra Madre watershed areas specially in the Upper Marikina forest zone, the plan included the designation of forest lines, geohazard and "no build zones." It called for the dredging and proper management of Laguna de Bay (the main catch basin for the Metro Manila area); the clearing of the Pasig River, its tributaries and related waterways; construction of huge water impounding areas and spillways and tempering of housing and related developments to conform with land usage and carrying capacity, among others. A number of the planned activities were undertaken including the construction of the Napindan Channel meant to divert runoff water directly to Manila bay. Unfortunately, no other channel has been constructed since. 

Then there was a Pasig River Rehabilitation Program, a key component of the original plan, to get this main river system capacitated as a principal outlet to Manila Bay. Billions of pesos after and floodings in between,  nothing has been heard about this effort until the implementing agency was abolished early this year. 

There was also a Project Noah during PNoy's time meant to provide timely and correct information about the advent of typhoons and the volume of rain which these bring. This is to at least provide planners and disaster risk management officials enough time to undertake engineering interventions and social mobilization to limit the damage to persons and property if a flood occurs. We have yet to hear the status of this program now. Does it still exist?

An updated Flood Management Master Plan was also issued during that time involving, among others, close to 800 infrastructure projects and a slew of non-infrastructure ones meant to precisely jumpstart the implementation of the original plan in the '70s. Two huge loans were contracted for the updated plan. Some projects were implemented but the bulk remained in limbo.

At this point, given the limited time that this administration has to undertake a comprehensive flood control and management plan, it is doubtful whether any form of intervention can be undertaken at all. At this time, what we suggest  for the government to do is codify and update the development masterplan for the Mega Manila area which includes Regions 3 and 4-A – the epicenter of development in the country. This codification with timelines and possibly sources of funding will be a major step forward for the country to at least have a modicum of predictability and sustainability in its efforts to mitigate the negative impact of such disasters. Disasters will likely happen on an annual basis. Of course, this initiative is apart from fast tracking the enactment of a comprehensive land use plan and the implementation of any flood control project languishing in the archives gathering cobwebs.

Let’s not waste this opportunity.