Deluge of corruption

The perennial flooding would need a comprehensive plan and not the stop-gap measures that cost billions of pesos and have been implemented mainly as a source of kickbacks and percentages for politicians, experts have said.

Science needs to play a large part in stopping the regular inundation of Metro Manila. Flood control efforts usually steer storm water west to Manila Bay or Laguna Lake in the southeast.

However, a civil engineering expert said this scheme has been ineffective since it transfers the flood risk to coastal communities.

Diverting an average of 2,500 cubic meters of water to Laguna Lake means “a lot of the surrounding towns will be submerged.” Rapid urbanization coupled with quarrying strangles Metro Manila’s 31 rivers and their tributaries.

Instead, the anti-flood measures are usually short term.

At a recent public inquiry, Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan admitted that most of the flood mitigation projects were only for “immediate relief” while big-ticket programs encountered delays.

Diverting an average of 2,500 cubic meters of water to Laguna Lake means ‘a lot of the surrounding towns will be submerged.’ Rapid urbanization coupled with quarrying strangles Metro Manila’s 31 rivers and their tributaries.

Only one of the smaller “flagship” projects was completed last year, while the rest have been languishing in their preparatory stages since at least 2018.

This includes the Metro Manila Flood Management Project, which aims to rehabilitate 36 pumping stations and build 20 new ones by this year. Despite a $415-million World Bank loan, only two stations have been rehabilitated and none have been completed.

The 60-kilometer Central Luzon-Pampanga floodway, meant to drain storm water from Metro Manila, was supposed to begin construction in 2024. However, Bonoan conceded that delays had set the project back by three years.

Some 70 percent of Metro Manila’s “antiquated drainage system” was clogged with rubbish and silt, hampering flood management.

The country does not have a national flood control master plan, with only 18 scattered plans for major river basins which are “still being currently updated.”

In the recent budget hearings, it was found that the total cost of flood mitigation programs would be equivalent to spending P1 billion a day.

That amount is being thrown into the gutter without a promise of any lasting solution.