INUNDATION NATION

Yes, we really have to talk about floods

- By Vince S. Socco

IT WAS ONE absolutely wet and windy stretch. Two weeks or so ago, we were assaulted with about five consecutive typhoons in and around the Philippine area of responsibility, a deluge of monsoon rains, and almost 10 days of gray storm clouds — all adding up to an exceptional drenching for the Luzon and Metro Manila areas.

Of course, with the nonstop rains came the inevitable floods. And, as President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. pointedly called out in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) recently, “Mahiya naman kayo (Have some shame),” referring to possible lapses and irregularities in the government's flood control projects. He rued the lack of maintenance leading to collapsed, ill-designed infrastructure, and substandard work and materials ("palpak" or badly done) as evidence of incompetence and dubious or ghost ("guni-guni") contracts. Truly, the recurring — even worsening — state of flooding in the country is lamentable and worrisome. It is a clear case of throwing good money after bad, year after year after year — not to mention the adverse impact to economic activity and the daily life of innumerable Filipinos.

According to a study published by Global Climate Risks in February 2025, the Philippines suffers an annual economic loss of US$500 million to US$625 million from flooding - cited as the second-most frequently occurring hazard after storms. This is despite the stupefying increases in the flood mitigation budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). In 2015, the budget was P42.2 billion; in 2024 this rose to P244.5 billion. This year, the DPWH allocated P254.29 billion for its flood management program. Some estimates place spending on flood control projects at P1.2 trillion from 2009 to 2024. That comes to around P80 billion a year over the past 15 years or about P220 million a day. And yet the rise in flood waters continue unimpeded whenever the rains come.