The proposed 2026 budget for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) flood control programs has dropped by a third, from P3.8 billion this year to P2.5 billion next year.

During House plenary deliberations, Representative Monique Lagdameo, who sponsored the MMDA’s budget, defended the proposed amount.

“This amount is still here because this is used to maintain our waterways and our pumping stations,” the lawmaker said. “The only job given to the MMDA is really just for repair and maintenance.”

ACT Teachers partylist Representative Antonio Tinio questioned the agency’s reported 127 percent accomplishment rate for declogging and desilting waterways in 2024.

“The achievement, it says here, is 127 percent. You’re amazing,” Tinio said. “Metro Manila has so many waterways. No one would believe that.”

Lagdameo explained that some waterways had to be cleaned multiple times, leading to the higher percentage.

Tinio then asked how the MMDA could credibly claim the waterways were 100 percent declogged and desilted when even a little rain causes flooding.

“Every day, of course, trash returns to our waterways, which is why cleanup and monitoring are continuous,” Lagdameo replied.