As I write this, Manila and most parts of Luzon have been inundated with rains for pretty much a week straight – and with two typhoons inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility, there seems to be no end in sight.
As we continue to keep watch over rainfall warnings and class suspension announcements – and maybe hoping the same happens for work in the private sector – but we know better, for better or worse – the conversation inevitably shifts towards how we always seem to be unprepared for these rains, despite typhoons and monsoon rains being a regular occurrence. It shifts towards how we can’t seem to sort out our flood control system, despite millions of pesos (supposedly) invested in putting it all together. It shifts towards how garbage remains a problem, clogging up the places where rainwater should be flowing into – and that even splits into two conversations, about harsher penalties for litterers and about forcing manufacturers to shift to environmentally-friendly packaging.
Interestingly, another conversation started to come together early this week. We had at least two local city leaders blaming national government projects for the worse flooding in their jurisdictions. True, flooding is getting worse, with some parts of the metro being inundated for the first time. Could it be because of the continued development of our cities, and how certain aspects seemingly have been left behind?
I don’t have a definitive answer, but I can’t help but think of what Dr. Mahar Lagmay of the University of the Philippines showed earlier this week. It was a screen shot from Project NOAH, a government-launched initiative (now run by UP) which identified parts of the country that are prone to hazards. Superimposed over a map of Commonwealth Avenue is a map of how water would usually flow, corresponding almost exactly to the part of the highway that is flooded.
You then remember why some parts of Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces flood more than others. Navotas and Malabon, for example, are close to the coast. Same case with Parañaque and Las Piñas. Cainta is a passageway of rainwater from the mountains to its east, leading to the Laguna de Bay. I even remember my childhood home in Cavite, which would be flooded when the rains are particularly bad, despite the rest of the village not being flooded… until I realized a creek sits behind my backyard, and my house is literally where all the water would go as it enters a waterway.
Marikina, of course, is an exception, having learned its lesson from Ondoy. It wasn’t satisfied with just enforcing stricter evacuation measures as it keeps a wary eye on the river that snakes within its borders. In the past decade or so the city invested in stronger flood control and water retention measures, which meant while news cameras were focused on the Marikina River’s water level, there were barely any casualties in what used to be one of the worst-flooded cities in NCR.
But back to blaming national government projects. Could it be? Possibly. The breakneck pace of infrastructure development – a response to the continued growth of an already heavily-congested region, and the call for more ways to keep the city moving – could have left behind other essential systems that also contribute to the quality of life of residents. Sure, you may have a marginal reduction in travel time from your home to your work, but whenever the monsoon rains come, you can’t get out of the house because you’re surrounded by floods when you aren’t used to. It doesn’t help that the response to increased demand for commercial opportunities is to turn green spaces into concrete jungles, or even to reclaim land from our coasts, further affecting our already fragile shoreline. (So much for the supposed mental health benefits of the “dolomite beach” along Manila Bay.)
There have been many calls to decongest Metro Manila, to focus growth opportunities in the regions, for years. There’s the economic argument, but also, in a way it could prevent the massive disruption to the economy these natural calamities pose on a fragile, contested, and frankly unprepared capital. But realistically, is there something we can do, at least in the short term? Try forcing people to move out, to convert existing structures into green spaces. Even if you give them ample economic opportunities – or highlight the fact that we can all work from home now – there will be outcry, to say the very least.
So, perhaps, pay more attention to flood control, to disaster mitigation measures? They may not be as sexy to the voters that politicians want to impress – you can’t drive through a pumping station; it doesn’t trigger feelings of “sumakses” to ordinary Filipinos – but these should be central to present and future infrastructure investment plans. I understand a proposed bill setting out infrastructure priorities for the next three decades includes such projects, but again, they should be treated with equal importance, if not more, than subways and railways and highways. And I say this as an advocate for the supply chain sector. These disasters disrupt the movement of goods, impact the competitiveness of businesses, and adversely affect quality of life. We have a direct stake in these, too.
But then, remember when parts of the North Luzon Expressway were rendered impassable for several days due to persistent rains? There was talk of building an underground water-catchment facility, similar to the one in Bonifacio Global City – the one everyone talks about when they raise that oasis of car-centric development as an ideal. A year later, as far as I can tell, it’s still just talk.
Henrik Batallones is the marketing and communications director of SCMAP, and editor-in-chief of its official publication, Supply Chain Philippines. More information about SCMAP is available at scmap.org.
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