Yearly without fail, Metro Manila and its suburbs undergo the cruel ritual of being submerged in water during a heavy downpour such as the recent confluence of two storms and the monsoon rain.

Such weather events are expected to become more frequent with the climate shift, but yearly the government pours hundreds of billions of pesos into the budget for flood control.

For this year, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has a P245-billion budget for anti-flood projects, from P185 billion the previous year.

Still, the flood problem has worsened, pointing to the projects being ineffective or, worse, not having been implemented at all.

Also yearly, right after the cities are inundated, recriminations and fault findings happen.

The Senate, for instance, has scheduled an inquiry into the recent flooding during typhoon “Carina” yet this is not expected to produce any results other than looking for people to blame.

Infrastructure companies, however, have long suggested water impoundment as a solution to the yearly weather crucible.

The Wawa Dam, being developed by the Enrique Razon group, for instance, doubles as an added source of water for Metro Manila and for preventing a Waterworld after a severe rainfall.

Other private groups have their versions for stopping water from submerging urban centers while creating reserves that can be used during the dry season.

Ineffective measures such as replacing sewage pipes and raking the mud using primitive declogging methods make up the flood control projects, the amounts for which are among the largest items in the yearly budget.

During typhoon “Ondoy”, where the rainfall exceeded the “Carina” onslaught, most of Marikina and other low-lying areas were submerged yet the images of the floodwaters reaching the rooftops of houses then were not very prevalent.

Rizal local executives proffered that without the Upper Wawa Dam, flooding in certain areas of the province might have been significantly worse if not for the reservoir that was filled during the deluge.

The dam project has a reservoir of about 450 hectares that can store up to 120 million cubic meters of water. It is the largest dam to be built in over 50 years and was intended primarily to solve the water supply problem in Metro Manila and the province of Rizal.

Without the downpour from “Carina”, the builder of the dam estimated that it would take six months to fill the reservoir. Instead, it was filled in two days.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, in a post-typhoon briefing, agreed that the impounding process reduced the extent of Metro Manila’s flooding.

The reservoir accumulated over 90 million cubic meters of water during the super typhoon that helped to mitigate downstream flooding, saving lives and property.

Mr. Marcos then said the government must draft a water management program for the prudent use of the budget, which is just being poured into useless stop-gap measures against flooding.

It would even be better if the government leaves to the private sector the management of flood control since they have in their hands long-term solutions that bureaucrats reject since they prefer temporary solutions that require yearly spending, and with it commissions.

The best move would be to tap the private sector to put up such projects and let them find a way to earn from it before transferring ownership to the government.

Water impoundment is big business abroad. In Australia, it is a major source of drinking water after subjecting the rainwater to treatment.

Dams can also generate hydroelectric power that produces clean energy.

Unless the government makes a stand now, the country will suffer from the effects of the ever-worsening weather conditions. Concrete solutions are needed in which the government should consider tapping the efficiency of private firms in managing flood control.

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