EDITORIAL - Reclamation, not flood control

Apart from substandard and non-existent flood control projects, of which some of the ghost projects are even funded year after year, another dimension in this continually growing scandal has emerged.

An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources told the Senate finance committee yesterday that a flood control project in Laguna de Bay is actually a reclamation project, which is supposed to be prohibited in the lake and could actually be exacerbating flooding in the lakeside communities.

DENR Undersecretary for integrated environmental science Carlos Primo David also said that in other parts of the country, dikes were built in areas where the structures either did not serve their intended purpose of flood mitigation, or even aggravated flooding.

Through satellite imagery and other methods, the DENR has been monitoring flood control projects for compliance with environmental rules. David was a resource person at the Senate hearing for the 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“This is a flood control project within Laguna de Bay, but if you look at the satellite images, they are actually reclamation projects within the lake, right along C6,” David said, referring to Circumferential Road 6 that girds the lake from Taguig to Taytay, Rizal.

The bay reclamation projects have ruined what was originally touted to be a scenic lakeside drive. Last year, the Laguna Lake Development Authority said the reclamation projects, carried out by both the local government units and private companies, lacked permits.

Laguna de Bay plays a critical role in flood management in Metro Manila, Laguna and Rizal. Over the years reclamation and unregulated development in the surrounding floodplains have been blamed for worsening flooding in the surrounding communities. In some of these low-lying areas, floods have taken up to three months to completely recede.

This year, the Philippine Reclamation Authority reiterated that reclamation is prohibited in the lake, which augments water supply in Metro Manila and is a major source of freshwater fish.

Yet the reclamation activities continue, and if the DENR is correct, in the guise of flood control. How can the government be helpless in stopping this? Will the public have to wait until irreparable damage has been done to the lake?

Until the government acts decisively, the inevitable suspicion is that there are millions – probably billions – of reasons for this inability or unwillingness to save Laguna de Bay.