Flood control

A colleague in one of my Viber groups shared a post he picked up from another group that pointed out an unexpected bright spot in our flood control story this year. Marikina, he said, showed the rest of the country how flood control projects are done right.

“If you’ve noticed, during the days of heavy monsoon rains that flooded many areas in the NCR, there were hardly any reports of entire villages or streets going under in Marikina.

“Yes, the water level at the Marikina River was front and center in the news, reaching third alarm at over 18 meters from a normal level of nine meters, prompting forced evacuation from areas near the river.

“But most of Marikina? Flood free.”

That’s heartwarming news. It is possible pala for some Filipino political leaders to do something right, to learn something from a previous tragedy.

I remember how some residents of Provident Village in Marikina died as floodwaters from Ondoy submerged many houses up to their roofs.

“If you look at Project NOAH’s flood hazard map, almost the entire Marikina is in the red flood hazard zone. Add to this the fact that Wawa Dam that’s just to the North of Marikina overflowed.

“So, what did Marikina do right? Instead of treating the disaster as a once-in-a-100-year storm or downplaying the devastation as an unavoidable natural disaster, Marikina made a promise to itself. Never again.”

Marikina didn’t wait for DPWH. It embarked on flood control projects of its own. Creeks and canals were dredged or widened. Drainage systems were declogged and improved. Major streets were hollowed out and turned into underground canals to handle bigger volumes of floodwater.

“Then, large, and sturdy river walls were built to protect communities near the river. All these projects took over 10 years to complete, with Typhoon Ulysses in 2020 which many compared to Ondoy serving as the first big stress test.

“While several areas still came under water, a large part of Marikina that was flooded during Ondoy experienced little to no flood during Ulysses, pleasantly surprising many long-time residents.

“Succeeding Ondoy-like typhoons further tested and proved the effectiveness of Marikina’s flood control projects. In general, flood waters drained faster.”

Marikina’s successful response to flood threats is not usual for this country where political leaders are more interested in illegally fattening their net worth from public works projects.

One more thing… Not one Marikina mayor claims he or she is responsible for the progress being made. There was continuity in the response. A series of mayors carried out the needed action plans beyond the usual three-year term of office.

And Marikina didn’t just do flood control infrastructure. Marikina also cleaned the river. Actually, river clean-up started under then mayor Bayani Fernando way back in 1993, the “Save the Marikina River” Program.

It was an ambitious river cleanup program. It called for clearing the river banks of all encroachments (both factories and informal settlers), reviving the quality of the river’s water by demanding water treatment facilities from industries, and establishing the river environment as sports, recreational and cultural centers.

I came upon an interview of then Marikina Mayor Marides Fernando, who succeeded her husband Bayani, published by the ADB. She was asked which steps or strategies spelled success for the river cleanup?

Her response: “One of the most crucial was the establishment of the Marikina River’s width measured from the center line of the water. Once we established the 96-meter easement, and enacted an ordinance on it, we gained a solid argument to convince informal settlers and structures along the riverbanks to relocate. Without their resettling, we couldn’t have done the cleanup work.

“Passing the right ordinances also took us further in our recovery effort. We had ordinances that imposed sanctions for improper waste disposal or obstructing riverbanks, declared land by the river as danger zones and non-buildable areas, supported the resettlement of informal settlers, monitored the water quality, and more.

“And with the right ordinances came the right organizational structure to implement the cleanup. We established two new offices for this purpose – the Marikina River Park Authority and the Marikina Settlements Office.”

As expected, the relocation of squatter communities along the riverbanks was the most resisted. It required strong political will on the part of several Marikina mayors and other city officials to get this done.

But they relocated over 30,000 squatter families to in-city settlement sites, where these families now admit to enjoying more humane living conditions. These days, the river is completely squatter free.

Cleaning up rivers, not the typical DPWH flood control infrastructure, is the logical first step in dealing with floods. This was proven by the San Miguel cleanup of the Tullahan River. It was proven again when San Miguel cleaned the Paranaque River, which ended floods in NAIA.

What Marikina is doing right is follow through. The LGU continues to build and improve its flood control system 16 years after Ondoy. In areas where little can be done, evacuation and risk reduction protocols are in place and activated like clockwork depending on the river’s water level.

Marikina showed flood control projects do work if done right and improved relentlessly regardless of who is the mayor. This is good news about Pinoy governance, for a change.

If the LGUs that were the supposed beneficiaries of flood control projects had real and honest projects, what Marikina accomplished could have been replicated nationwide. The trillion pesos stolen by politicians, bureaucrats and contractors could have done wonders.

Unfortunately, those among the most corrupt are now enjoying the bitter fruits of their crimes in Europe with their families.

This crime against the people demands a death sentence. But the most notorious of them, a former congressman, may not even return to the country.

We must clean up Congress and the bureaucracy or our flood problems will remain a yearly curse.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco