City urged: Enforce water ordinance

CEBU, Philippines — Pesquera, in a letter to Archival and the council, stressed that the ordinance was designed “not only to stop groundwater depletion and saltwater intrusion, but also to mitigate the very flooding we face today on a catastrophic scale.”

She warned that “every drop of rainwater that runs into the sea is a missed opportunity. By capturing rainfall today, we refill our underground aquifers and secure pure, clean drinking water for our children tomorrow.”

Pesquera recommended inspecting all buildings and subdivisions constructed since 2006 for rainwater tanks, reservoirs or cisterns; designing detention ponds in low-lying areas such as Guadalupe, Tisa, Talamban, Mabolo, Pari-an and Basak San Nicolas; and identifying vacant lots suitable for such facilities.

The City Council acted on her appeal, with Majority Floor Leader Winston Pepito moving to refer Pesquera’s concerns to the Committee on Infrastructure.

The motion directed the Office of the Building Official “to inspect old buildings built since the ordinance took effect for rainwater tank compliance and run-off containment,” the Cebu City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) and Department of Welfare and Urban Planning (DWUP) “to inspect subdivisions for the same compliance,” and the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) “to prepare and design a POWE for water detention ponds and name lowland flood-prone areas.”

The motion also instructed the City Assessor’s Office “to identify vacant lots suitable for these detention ponds.”

Councilor Mikel Rama reinforced the urgency through an approved resolution citing recurring flooding in coastal barangays, which he said has been worsened by solid waste accumulation and delays in relocating informal settlers.

Official records showed only 56 easement violations since 2022, but field validations revealed significantly more encroachments.

Rama’s resolution referred the matter to the Committees on Housing and Disaster Risk Reduction, stressing the need to investigate delayed reports and prioritize drainage works in the most flood-prone areas.

The Flood and Drainage Council, meanwhile, highlighted the broader problem of fragmented governance, warning that responsibilities for rivers, drainage, upland development, sewerage, flood control, watershed protection and land-use planning remain scattered among various agencies.

This has resulted in “inconsistent enforcement, overlapping authority, delayed responses, weak continuity, and absence of integrated watershed governance.”(CEBU NEWS)