Legarda pushes DPWH to cost nature-based infrastructure

Senator Loren Legarda has renewed her call for the integration of nature-based solutions into the country’s public infrastructure planning and costing, saying ecological and hybrid designs must be given the same consideration as traditional civil works.

During plenary deliberations on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Legarda urged the agency to revise its costing systems so climate-resilient designs are not excluded from formal programming.

While she has long asserted that “Nurturing nature is our strongest flood defense,” Legarda stressed the need for costing frameworks that recognize the value of ecological infrastructure.

The four-term senator urged the DPWH to apply the same rigor it used in updating its Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD) and Detailed Unit Price Analysis (DUPA) to designs that incorporate environmental features. She said nature-based solutions should be placed “on equal footing” with conventional projects such as bridges, floodwalls, pumping stations, and roads.

Constructed wetlands, vegetated floodplains, detention parks, bioswales, permeable surfaces, urban forests, mangrove and riparian restoration, among others, are not only climate-resilient but can be more cost-effective over their lifecycle, Legarda said.

“These approaches reduce energy use, withstand climate extremes, and deliver co-benefits for biodiversity, health, and tourism. Yet without standardized costing frameworks, they remain excluded from formal programming and from fair comparison with conventional civil works,” she said.

Legarda emphasized that the Philippines’ abundance of natural resources and ecological diversity makes it uniquely positioned to lead in modern, climate-conscious infrastructure.

“We cannot continue to measure infrastructure value only in terms of cement,” Legarda declared. “True value-for-money must account for the resilience and sustainability that nature-based solutions bring to our communities. If DPWH fails to integrate these into its costing, we are missing the opportunity to build smarter, greener infrastructure.”

She proposed a dedicated Nature-Based Solutions Costing Framework—parallel to CMPD and DUPA—to establish standardized unit costs, design templates, and material benchmarks for ecological and hybrid models.

“We must conduct comparative cost–benefit and lifecycle analyses between traditional flood control structures and nature-based alternatives, particularly hybrid models that combine both approaches,” she said.

Legarda also pushed for a formal study on the integration of indigenous and locally sourced materials—such as bamboo, coconut lumber, volcanic aggregates, local stone and native plant species—into national standards.

“We have the resources, knowledge, and urgency. What we need is the institutional will to mainstream these solutions into our infrastructure program,” she added.

She further recommended a pilot program in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Economic and Development (DEPDev), and the academe to generate local cost data on nature-based and indigenous-material-based infrastructure. Such a program, she said, will support more sustainable investment decisions and “ground infrastructure planning in Philippine realities.”

Legarda has consistently pushed for an all-government approach anchored on nature-based solutions in deliberations on the 2026 General Appropriations Bill, saying ecological resilience and sustainability must be embedded in infrastructure planning to align modernization efforts with environmental stewardship.