After years of spending billions of pesos to manage the floods, how much protection has the public actually received?
Hard rain, slow truths Heavy rains yesterday caused roads to become waterways in many areas across the metro, and the ensuing heavy traffic, such as this buildup in Manila, stranded thousands of motorists and commuters.
Photograph courtesy of Jam Sta. Rosa/Agence France-Presse
A three-hour journey home for a student in Manila on Monday became a slow crawl through flooded roads and jammed traffic, offering a stark reminder of the vulnerability of the Philippine capital as the government investigates alleged corruption in billions of pesos worth of flood control projects.
Gianne left the University of Santo Tomas shortly after noon and boarded a jeepney bound for SM Fairview, expecting to make her way through one of Metro Manila’s busiest corridors.
Instead, the journey became a slow passage through rising waters and worsening congestion.
“There was a part of España that was already flooded, up to ankle deep,” Gianne told DAILY TRIBUNE in Filipino.
By Banawe, Quezon City, the flooding had worsened. A section of the road was no longer passable, she said, forcing the jeepney to take a different route. Near Fisher Mall, only a single lane was passable, with just a few motorists willing to risk crossing it.
“So at both Banawe and Fisher Mall, the e-jeep drove along the corner,” she said.
The detours offered little relief. After Hi-Top on Timog Avenue, traffic was barely moving and public transport had become increasingly scarce. When the jeepney finally got through, stranded commuters rushed toward it, desperate to get on.
The vehicle quickly filled beyond capacity. Passengers at the back pleaded with the driver to stop taking on more people.
“To the point that the people standing at the back told the driver that it was so crowded they could not breathe,” she said.
By 2:10 p.m., the e-jeep had reached the Quezon City Hall. But the trip was far from over. At 3:23 p.m., more than three hours after leaving UST, Gianne was still stuck in traffic on Visayas Avenue.
Metrowide flooding
Gianne’s experience was repeated across Metro Manila as the heavy southwest monsoon rains flooded major roads, disrupted public transport, and effectively turned parts of the capital into a vast parking lot.
Monday’s flooding, by itself, did not establish that any particular anomalous project caused the high water in Metro Manila.
Flooding depends on the rainfall intensity, drainage capacity, waterways, pumping systems, land use and other factors.
But the scale of the disruption brought a simple question to the center of the government’s flood control drive. After years of spending billions of pesos to manage the floods, how much protection has the public actually received?
Roads disappeared
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) reported 17 inches of water at España Boulevard corner Antipolo Street, making the area impassable to light vehicles. At España Boulevard corner M. de la Fuente Street, the floodwaters rose to 24 inches deep, making the area impassable to all types of vehicles.
Rizal Avenue corner Pampanga Street was knee-deep at about 19 inches and also impassable, while Abad Santos Avenue corner Yuseco Street was likewise knee-deep and closed to light vehicles.
The flooding extended into Quezon City, where NS Amoranto between G. Araneta Avenue and Sto. Domingo Avenue reached 19 inches. A. Bonifacio Cloverleaf recorded about 26 inches of water, while parts of Araneta Avenue, EDSA White Plains and Quezon Avenue were also rendered impassable to light vehicles.
In Malabon, Gov. Pascual Avenue reached roughly 18 to 19 inches, while portions of F. Sevilla Boulevard, Barangay San Agustin, and C. Arellano were shin-deep. C3 Road corner NLEX Connector in Caloocan reached 19 inches.
The MMDA said some flooding had already subsided by Monday afternoon, including Rizal Avenue Extension from SM Grand Central to 12th Avenue and EDSA Magallanes Service Road.
In Manila, the MDRRMO reported knee-deep flooding along major stretches of Taft Avenue and España Boulevard.
Free truck rides
The city government deployed trucks to provide free rides to stranded commuters, while raised pedicabs ferried passengers through flooded streets, including at Loyola Street corner F. Cayco.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno monitored flood-prone roads and ordered officials to prioritize the areas most severely affected.
MDRRMO chief Arnel Angeles monitored Quezon Boulevard and the Lagusnilad Underpass, two known trouble spots during heavy rainfall. Heavy-duty pumps were placed on standby in case water levels rose further.
Transport system buckles
The flooding exposed not only the limits of the capital’s roads and drainage network but also the fragility of a public transport system already struggling to move millions of people.
Despite the worsening conditions, the MMDA said the number-coding scheme would remain in effect for the time being.
The agency said suspending coding early during previous bouts of bad weather had resulted in a surge of vehicles and severe congestion — a “carmageddon” that left more people stranded.
“If your car is coded, stay where you are. Let the vehicles that are not coded leave first so that not all the vehicles will be on the road at once,” MMDA general manager Nicolas Torre wrote on social media.
He also advised those without an urgent need to travel to postpone their trips.
Zero visibility
Meanwhile, the Pasig River Ferry Service was suspended from 11 a.m. because the heavy rain and strong winds caused zero visibility. The MMDA said the suspension was intended to protect passengers and boat crews.
Victory Liner also temporarily stopped dispatching buses from its Metro Manila terminals bound for northern Luzon after flooding made Balintawak impassable.
The bus operator later resumed trips after the floodwaters subsided, with some buses rerouted via the Skyway and other roads.
More than 5 million affected
The flooding that stranded UST students and commuters on Monday was part of a broader weather emergency affecting more than five million people nationwide.
The Office of Civil Defense said 5,084,667 people, or 1,450,747 families, in 10 regions were affected by the torrential rains from the southwest monsoon.
The affected areas were the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Calabarzon, the Cordillera Administrative Region, the National Capital Region and Mimaropa.
Some 7,182 families were staying in 523 evacuation centers, including 240 schools converted into temporary shelters.
23 dead, 17 injured
The bad weather had killed 23 people, injured 17, and left one missing. Benguet recorded 15 deaths, followed by Rizal and Batangas with three each, and La Union and Quezon with one each.
The rains had totally damaged 182 houses and partially damaged 1,681 others. Infrastructure damage was estimated at P3.45 billion, while agricultural losses reached P689.7 million. Government assistance to affected communities stood at P734.1 million.
Classes, gov’t offices disrupted
The flooding also forced widespread changes to classes.
Metro Manila cities that announced the suspension of face-to-face classes included Manila, Valenzuela, Caloocan, Malabon, Pateros, Las Piñas, Pasay, Parañaque, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Quezon City, Taguig, Makati, Navotas, Marikina, San Juan and Pasig.
Several cities ordered afternoon suspensions, while others suspended classes at all levels for both public and private schools. Some shifted to alternative delivery modes, including synchronous or asynchronous learning.
The national government also ordered alternative work arrangements for government offices in Metro Manila and the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Cavite, Batangas, Rizal, Laguna, Quezon and Occidental Mindoro starting at noon.
Schools in those areas were likewise directed to use alternative learning modes unless local governments issued other instructions.
Agencies providing basic and health services, disaster response and other essential services were ordered to continue operating.
More rain ahead
Pagasa said the southwest monsoon would continue to affect parts of the country through the week, with occasional to frequent rains forecast through Wednesday over La Union, Pangasinan, Abra, Benguet, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas and Occidental Mindoro.
Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon and Western Visayas are expected to experience cloudy skies, scattered rain and thunderstorms, keeping the capital and other flood-prone areas at risk of further flooding.
The weather bureau was also monitoring a low pressure area about 1,140 kilometers east of Northern Luzon as of 8 a.m. Monday, giving it a medium chance of developing into a tropical depression within 24 hours.
The monsoon had been bringing heavy rains since the previous week, following the passage of tropical cyclone “Luis” and tropical storm “Maymay,” which both later weakened into low pressure areas.
In Quezon City, the Science Garden station at the Department of Science and Technology-Pagasa compound recorded 201.7 millimeters of rain in just five hours, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Of that total, 138-mm fell between noon and 2 p.m., sending water levels rapidly rising across Metro Manila.
The rainfall was less than half the 455-mm recorded over 24 hours during tropical storm “Ondoy” in September 2009, which triggered catastrophic flooding across Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
Yet Monday’s concentrated downpour was enough to turn Metro Manila’s roads into waterways, cripple public transport, and strand thousands of commuters — a stark reminder that despite a multibillion-peso flood control program that is now under investigation the capital remains highly vulnerable when the rain comes down hard.
At the heart of the scandal is stolen public money that was meant to keep communities and infrastructure above water.
On Monday, much of Metro Manila went under.
For commuters like Gianne, the system’s effectiveness boiled down to a far simpler question. After hours of wading through floodwaters and crawling through gridlock, could they get home?
