Flood control lacking for decades

In a column entitled “Metro Manila should learn from New Orleans” published on September 20, 2005 we wrote: “We hope that Metro Manila is taking steps to ensure that if we are struck by a very bad typhoon, we, at least, took steps to minimize some of its damages. There is very little the government can do to protect individual homes. But they can undertake some projects to minimize the floods that will accompany the heavy rains. 

We had many rains in the last few days and sad to say, many places in Metro Manila went under water. How would Metro Manila fare if struck by a tsunami or a very severe typhoon?”

In another column written on August 24, 2004 (“We can’t avoid floods but we can minimize them”) we wrote: “We will always have floods during the rainy season. We can’t stop them for the simple reason that we cannot stop the rain…What we can do is take steps to alleviate the floods. At the moment, the people are doing many things to aggravate the problem. We have many squatters who reside in known flood-prone areas. Worst is that in many places the floods have worsened because the people there don’t know how to dispose of their garbage properly. They dump them in estuaries where they clog the flow of water.”

And finally, in September 1970, the Greater Manila experienced severe flooding. In a column dated September 4, 1970 (Lessons from the Floods) we wrote: “The flood problem will not end when the waters recede…most important of all, the government will have to take steps to implement an honest-to-goodness flood control program. Floods can be controlled and whatever money is spent for the project will prove much, much cheaper in the long run. Our economy cannot continue sustaining flood damages. How has the last flood, for instance, affected crops in the field? What was the damage to our roads, bridges and schools?”

We have quoted a few of our older columns to illustrate that the flood problem has been a severe issue for decades. It is not an issue that has cropped up in the last days, weeks, months or even years. This was also well illustrated in Boo Chanco’s column Supply and Demand on October 2, 2009. In it, Mr. Chanco quotes a 1977 World Bank-funded study (a study we feel should be revisited and a new one commissioned) on land development in Metro Manila. The Marikina Valley was identified as unsuitable for development, because it was flood-prone.

There are many issues contributing to the Ondoy-triggered floods of last week. A lack of proper drainage, a situation that has existed since the mid-20th century, and our eternal trash and garbage problem are one major factor. Where can the water go when all the estuaries are filled over with trash? Decades-long uncontrolled development and unplanned urban sprawl are also at fault. The location of villages in areas such as Marikina Valley indicates a lack of proper zoning controls. Those areas were known flood plains; private developers should never have been allowed to build on them in the first place. None of this is new news. The solutions needed to prevent further dangerous flooding in the future are there in front of us: Clean up the estuaries, put in place proper zoning and building controls, develop a comprehensive garbage control plan and implement it, and plan and build adequate drainage and sewage systems. 

It has long been said that the Philippines lacks the political and social will to improve the country. We respectfully disagree. The will and desire to overcome, change and improve is there, as the country proved last week. We know what we face and what to do to prevent further deadly flooding. It is time we started fixing these problems. The Filipino deserves it.