Flooding or Corruption: The Unsolved Dilemma

 

Last Wednesday afternoon, amid the heavy downpour, I went to the fourth level of our condo’s parking building to check on the Marikina River. The river was flowing faster than usual, and its water had overflowed, reaching ankle-deep along the walkway on our side of the riverbank. The normally dark water had turned brown, indicating significant topsoil erosion upstream.

Runaway barges, used to carry garbage removed during dredging operations, posed a threat to bridges. Despite efforts to clean and deepen the river, the sheer amount of filth makes it nearly impossible to see lasting improvements. During the summer months, the river's stench becomes unbearable.

In front of the condo on C-5, street flooding remains an unresolved issue, likely due to clogged or dirty drainage systems, which is under the responsibility of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). But can we really expect the MMDA to deliver?

I reached out to a former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary, known for his productivity. He shared his first experience with flooding, which led him to inspect pumping stations. To his surprise, one station had very little water because the esteros and drainage pipes were clogged with garbage.

This issue is not new. I recall Geny Lopez visiting a pumping station when the Lopezes managed Maynilad, where he was shocked to see a refrigerator and a mattress among other large debris. The former DPWH secretary encountered similar sights.

I questioned why flooding persists despite the hundreds of billions of pesos spent on flood control. He explained that while infrastructure is crucial, cleaning the esteros and maintaining flood-control systems are equally important. During his tenure, he focused on these tasks, resulting in some improvements, but the annual loss of workdays due to flooding remains inevitable.

He cautioned that cleaning the esteros and outlets won’t completely prevent flooding but will help water flow faster to Manila Bay. However, existing outflows may not be enough to handle the increased rainwater volume due to climate change.

Senator Francis Escudero scrutinized the DPWH’s P255-billion flood control budget last year, noting it was significantly higher than the budgets for the Department of Agriculture (P40.13 billion) and the Department of Health (P24.57 billion). The flood control budget even surpassed the railway budget by over P100 billion, which stood at P153 billion, and the irrigation budget at P31 billion.

Escudero pointed out that the DPWH’s flood control budget also eclipsed the proposed budgets of entire departments, including the Department of National Defense (P232.2 billion), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (P209.9 billion), and the Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies (P181.4 billion). The DPWH has a proposed budget of P822.2 billion for 2024.

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva highlighted that the DPWH had a daily budget for flood management of P1.079 billion in 2023. He questioned the implementation, expressing disbelief that such a budget was effectively utilized, as flood-affected families saw little benefit.

Could the flood-control budget be a major source of corruption in Congress, diverted into pork barrel projects with minimal impact? Rumors suggest that kickbacks in such projects now exceed 50 percent.

With this state of affairs, Filipinos must continue to be resilient, enduring annual floods because they keep electing corrupt officials.

Provident Village in Marikina faced the same issues as in the past. While some residents took preventive measures, like building additional floors, and moving out at the first sign of trouble, the overall response was still inadequate. Politicians claim that dredging efforts reduced the flooding, but the truth is, flood-control projects remain incomplete, hindered by slow progress and fragmented contractor assignments.

A video on social media showed different types of aircraft parked in the flooded NAIA tarmac, indicating serious drainage problems. The Parañaque River remains clogged with garbage, and the proposed Parañaque spillway is still just a proposal. The new NAIA management will need to address this issue, and hopefully, San Miguel’s success in dredging the Tullahan River and preventing flooding at their Polo Brewery can serve as an example.

Last week's flooding highlighted the combined effects of corruption and incompetence in executing our flood-control projects. It appears that some politicians' bank accounts are being flooded with our money.