Are we taking care of our mountains and rivers?

I left Cebu for Manila on Thursday evening, July 30, 2026, with some trepidation. Part of our roof was due for repair, and my repairman would not be available until the following week. But there was important business to attend to in Manila, and the repair could wait, even if I eventually had to do it myself.

What worried me more was the overall situation in Metro Cebu. It had been raining for much of each day for several days across the metro, and the ground was visibly saturated. One did not have to be an expert to predict that if the rain continued, even if it was not particularly heavy, flooding would follow. And it did, from July 30 through August 1.

In many parts of the city, floodwaters entered homes and turned familiar roads into waterways. Yet when the waters subside, normal life seems to resume, along with the same patterns of development, governance, land use, and waste disposal that contributed to the flooding.

That is why Cebu Archbishop Alberto “Abet” Uy issued a timely and pointed statement on August 1 through his social media page, ‘Maymay sa Magbalantay.’ Addressing not only government officials but also developers, business owners, landowners, and ordinary Cebuanos, the Archbishop said that economic progress should never come at the expense of the environment.

“Development must always respect creation and protect human life. Sustainable development is not an obstacle to growth; it is the only path to lasting progress,” he wrote.

Cebu boasts of new subdivisions, condominiums, commercial centers, industrial estates, roads, reclamation projects, and other infrastructure. Though these developments have expanded economic activity, apparently nobody is minding the other side of it: the mountains and rivers.

Sure, we have built concrete drainage systems. But who is looking after the most effective flood-control system we have – nature itself, in the form of trees, hillsides, wetlands, waterways, and watershedsthat absorb, retain, and carry rainwater?

Nature is an unforgiving collector. The debts we incur through environmental neglect are eventually paid in flooded homes, lost livelihoods, damaged property, interrupted schooling, illness, and even death.

Archbishop Uy said: “I respectfully urge our government leaders to give priority to long-term flood mitigation rather than short-term solutions. Let us protect our watersheds, preserve our forests, restore our rivers, improve drainage systems, strictly enforce environmental laws, and ensure that flood-control projects are planned and implemented with competence, transparency, and integrity.”

“To our developers and landowners, I ask that every project be guided not only by profitability but also by responsibility. Let us avoid building in flood-prone areas without adequate safeguards, preserve natural waterways, provide sufficient green spaces and water-retention areas, and faithfully comply with environmental regulations. Progress that destroys creation is not genuine progress.”

He added: “The recent floods remind us that everything is connected. When we care for creation, we protect human life. When we protect human life, we honor the Creator. Let us work together so that future generations may inherit not only a more prosperous Cebu, but also a safer, greener, and more compassionate one.”

The watersheds feeding the Mananga, Kotkot-Lusaran, and Butuanon rivers are steep and relatively compact, so rainwater does not take long to reach downstream communities. Every year, the rivers grow a little shallower, yet no one seems to care. Yes, we dredge and build walls, but we seem to ignore the fact that the mountains and rivers are themselves our real flood-control system.

A healthy watershed is the only form of flood control that works before the flood becomes a flood. Everything else is meant either to reduce the damage or to repair it after it has already been done.