Senator Pangilinan pushes single agency, river-basin approach to flood control

MANILA – Senator Francis Pangilinan on Tuesday proposed putting Metro Manila’s flood-control program under the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and organizing flood-control efforts in the rest of the country around major river basins to address flooding through a unified, science-based approach.

Pangilinan said the country needs a national flood-control policy anchored on one integrated master plan and a clearly accountable lead authority for every metropolitan area or major river basin.

He said fragmented projects could waste public funds and merely transfer flooding from one community to another.

"Walang kinikilalang political boundary ang tubig. Kung tingi-tingi ang plano, tingi-tingi rin ang solusyon. Ang nangyayari, tumatagos lang ang baha sa mga kalapit-bayan (Water does not recognize political boundaries. If the plans are fragmented, the solutions will be fragmented as well. What happens is that the flooding simply spreads to neighboring towns)?" he said in a news release.

Under his proposal, the MMDA would take the lead in planning, coordinating and monitoring flood-control efforts across Metro Manila. Projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), local governments, water concessionaires, and other agencies would have to conform to a single metropolitan flood-control master plan.

For areas outside Metro Manila, Pangilinan said DPWH flood-control programs should be planned according to entire river basins instead of congressional districts, provinces, cities or municipalities.

He identified the Pampanga, Agno, Cagayan, Bicol, Agusan, and Mindanao river basins as examples.

Pangilinan cited Central Luzon, which has been experiencing widespread flooding amid weeks of monsoon-induced rains, as an illustration of the need for a river-basin approach.

He said flood-control planning for the Pampanga River Basin should cover interconnected waterways affecting Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, and neighboring areas.

Pangilinan also called for a public database containing the budget, contractor, specifications, timetable, and master-plan component of every flood-control project.

He said project selection should be based on hydrological studies, hazard maps, climate projections, and data from Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) and other scientific institutions.

He further proposed independent audits to determine not only whether projects were built according to specifications but also whether they actually reduced flooding without worsening the situation in other areas.

Pangilinan said similar principles have long been recommended by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, National Economic and Development Authority, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and Project NOAH through their flood-management and climate-resilience frameworks.

"Kailangan nang i-overhaul ang kasalukuyang flood-control system ng bansa. Palitan ng isang master plan na may isang chain of accountability na transparent sa lahat at measurable ang results para sa mga river basin at metropolitan area (The country’s current flood-control system needs to be overhauled. It should be replaced with a master plan with a single chain of accountability that is transparent to all and has measurable results for river basins and metropolitan areas)," he said. (Leonel Abasola/PNA)