At a Senate inquiry last August, Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan admitted that a master plan for flood control does not exist and that flagship stand-alone projects are delayed for years.

The probe was held in the aftermath of a convergence of typhoon “Carina” and the southwest monsoon that brought back the perennial waterworld in Metro Manila and most parts of Luzon.

Residents of the capital city listening to the Senate discussions were incredulous at how trillions of pesos spent over the years have failed to arrest the ever-worsening situation during the typhoon season.

Bonoan, short of pinpointing the ineffective projects that were mostly last-minute insertions in the national budget by members of Congress, said most of the flood mitigation undertakings of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were only for “immediate relief.”

Immediate relief translates to the usual dredging and desilting works that have not contributed much to “flood control.”

The government spent P244.47 billion for 5,500 flood projects since 2022 consisting mostly of immediate relief insertions in the budget.

Figures provided in the Senate probe showed that only one of the smaller flagship projects was completed this year, while the rest have languished in their initial stages since at least 2018.

The Metro Manila Flood Management Project, which seeks the rehabilitation of 36 pumping stations and the building of 20 new ones through a $415-million World Bank loan, had only two stations rehabilitated and none of the new ones installed.

The Central Luzon-Pampanga floodway which Bonoan said will drain storm water from Metro Manila, was supposed to begin construction this year. However, Bonoan conceded that delays have set the project back by three years.

To all this, a former DPWH head said a permanent solution has been available for so long and it does not even cost as much as has been thrown away yearly for “flood control.”

He said that water impounding in flood-prone areas is a technology that is keeping Bonifacio Global City (BGC) flood free and it can be replicated in other parts of Metro Manila.

Underneath BGC is a huge “detention tank” that can store water from a downpour. Water flows through drainage pipes to the tank.

The release of the water from the tank, which can hold the equivalent of eight Olympic-size swimming pools, is controlled thus preventing water surges on the streets.

When the rain stops, the BGC detention tank pumps the water into the Balasimpan creek and to the Pasig River.

The former DPWH head said the concept can be applied in flood-prone areas of Metro Manila like España Boulevard, Mandaluyong Circle and Araneta Avenue.

He said that instead of the water being on top of the street, “we put it into a water tunnel and pump it out when the volume of rain is low or after the storm passes.”

The ex-official said it would not take a year to build the system in the flood-prone areas and it would cost less than P100 million instead of the “immediate relief” measures that cost the government more every year.

“It’s not expensive like the Fort Bonifacio model cost P60 million to P65 million one-time,” the former official said.

He said private property developers should also be required to build impounding tank systems to mitigate flooding.

Long-term solutions, however, are the bane of pork-hungry officials since it would mean a halt to recurring kickbacks.

Thus, part of the solution to flooding is a strong political will in the leadership to resist the seduction of transaction politics.