For many years now, the Cebu City Government has been claiming to having a drainage masterplan to prevent flooding.

However, the Cebu City Council is not being updated as it seeks and requested the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) to submit before 14 February, the Flood Mitigation and Drainage Study.

In a resolution authored by North District City Councilor and Minority Leader Nestor Archival, the councilor insisted that since flooding is among the major problems of Cebu City, it is just right that it must not be dealt in "piecemeal."

"If there is one barangay with flooding, then piecemeal approach to correct the drainage problem, say we can clean up the culverts that's possible we can solve the flooding problem. However, what if the flooding problem transfers to a neighboring barangay?," Archival said.

He stressed the piecemeal approach will not cure the root cause of flooding but is merely a band-aid solution.

Likewise, Archival requested the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7) Unified Project Management Office(UPMO) to provide a copy of documents, such as the complete set of documents of the Drainage Masterplan of Metro Cebu and a timeline of the implementation of its Detailed Engineering Design.

Earlier, Engr. Carlo Escanuela of UPMO DPWH-7, presented to the council a drainage masterplan that required P8.2 billion in funding.

But Archival insisted the flooding problem has already been mapped out years ago yet project implementation has been delayed.

Citing the effectiveness of the drainage projects will depend on aligning the DPWH-7's and DEPW's plans.

He said the fight against flooding in the city must not be solely entrusted to DEPW to ensure, for example, that the right sizes of culverts based from the drainage masterplan are used so as to avoid wasting funds.

The City Council has been allocating budget for drainage projects.