DENR: DPWH project choked Iloilo creek, triggered recurring floods

ILOILO CITY — The mystery behind the recurring floods that have punished communities along Balantang and Buntatala Creek isn’t a mystery anymore. A DENR investigation has spelled it out bluntly: the creek was narrowed, choked, and obstructed by a government-funded project — leaving floodwaters with nowhere else to go.

A site validation by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-6), released by OIC Regional Executive Director Raul Lorilla, found that reclamation and backfilling works tied to the ongoing Access Road Section 1 (Bike Lane) Project in Barangay Tagbak cut into the creek’s natural alignment. A once functional waterway was squeezed into a tighter, shallower channel — a deadly constriction when heavy rains arrived.

Investigators reported that parts of the project site were reclaimed and filled with earth, directly blocking the creek’s natural flow and pushing water outward into homes, roads, and barangays sitting along the Buntatala floodplain. When storms Crising, Dante, and Emong drenched Iloilo — followed by days of Southwest Monsoon rains — the constricted creek simply gave way. Barangays Camalig, Lanit, Balantang, Tagbak, and Buntatala were swamped, in flooding residents say has become “predictable” every time dark clouds gather.

“The backfilling and earth-filling activities have further obstructed the natural water flow, eventually leading to water overflow onto access roads and adjacent areas,” the report said, a copy of which was obtained by Daily Tribune.

The DENR report also flagged a critical violation: the bike lane project had “No ECC/CNC issued.” Its Certificate of Non-Coverage application remains pending and was returned due to incomplete documents. Media reports identify the DPWH Iloilo City District Engineering Office (ICDEO) as the project implementer, funded through endorsements of Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda — who has been linked to over P5 billion in allocable and non-allocable projects in recent years, including P1.75 billion in flood control works under the Romualdez speakership.

Flood-related issues in Jaro have already reached Malacañang. During a visit to Iloilo in August, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. slammed the “delayed at palpak” flood control structures he inspected in Jaro — a post that later disappeared from his official Facebook page.

Following the EMB findings, DENR ordered DPWH–ICDEO and the Iloilo City Government to undo and correct the damage. The agency directed them to build proper slope protection in low-lying areas — but only after securing the required environmental permits. It also mandated the city to reassess future developments using updated topographic and elevation maps, together with the 1950 Land Classification Map, and required DPWH to coordinate all waterway-related projects with DENR, following the Iloilo River Esplanade model that delineates boundaries before construction. Agencies must also properly mark creek and river limits to prevent future encroachment and ensure adequate funding for corrective work.

For residents along Balantang Creek, the DENR report merely validates what they’ve weathered for years: every rainstorm has become a threat. And unless the creek is restored, regulations enforced, and accountability imposed, Ilonggos fear their communities will continue going underwater — not because of nature alone, but because a waterway meant to protect them was cramped and constricted by the very project claiming to improve their lives.

As of press time, the office of Congresswoman Baronda has not issued a statement.