Transparency in flood control projects

How much have we already spent for flood control projects both in the national and local governments? Your guess is as good as mine. And to further complicate our inquiry, how effective are the said projects?

Before the victims of the most recent typhoons become mere statistics and join the long list of casualties that are almost forgotten, I have to again sound the alarm that we have to put our heads together in resolving the problems that are caused by the annual havoc of destructive floods that we contend with almost helplessly. At least an average of 20 typhoons hit our archipelago every year. No island is safe anymore, including those in Mindanao which used to be spared from these worsening natural calamities.

In the aftermath of each heavy inundation and horrifying winds, the country always seemed to be awakened and our leaders committed to do better. But such awareness and resolution are almost always unfortunately extinguished by the next national political issue, scandal or high-profile investigation. Not that these later concerns are of no importance. They are significant too.

But we tend to simply forget and relieve the government from the pressure of staying the course in addressing the urgent measures that are needed to be sustained to manage the impact of the unavoidable onslaught of torrential rains and floods.

I received emails and text messages as reactions to my Sept. 13 column regarding the damages caused by the swelling of Marikina River during typhoons. Most of the said reactions support my view that we have to scientifically manage these challenges.

However, there are a few contrary opinions that basically concede on our powerlessness in stopping the expected negative impact caused by the significantly higher volume of rains. I respect these dissenting views. Hence, my column today is an effort to further clarify my stand that we can still, at a certain level, lessen or alter the horrible outcome that proceeds after each tropical cyclone.

The operative term is mitigate. Yes, we cannot be more powerful than nature. More so, we have no capability to suppress the wrath of nature. The collective abuses of our cities, and the cumulative recklessness of our earlier generations, are catching up with us. And unless reversed, the ongoing climate change will penalize the future generations. I agree on these.

But meanwhile, we can still aspire to implement doable engineering solutions and employ leadership innovations to mitigate or lessen the said negative impact of typhoons. We cannot totally resign and accept the verdict without doing our best as a people and motivate our government to be more responsive and responsible. After all, we have no choice but to possibly command what else can be accomplished using our resources, skills and strong resolve.

Account for our financial investments on handling floods. Again, how I wish that there will be a high-profile inquiry in the Senate or Congress to fully compute how much have we already poured into the problem. How much funds have we thrown to the countless projects that are intended to control floods such as the construction of flood and sea walls, building of catch basins and reservoirs, channel or river dredging, reforestation, slope or anti-erosion controls and installation of pumping stations.

Our legislators can extensively check and utilize their oversight power to validate if such projects are effective or, at the very least, compliant with their intended objectives.

For example, we can be enlightened on the status of the $207.6-million loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that was intended to help mitigate the floods in Metro Manila by “modernizing 36 pumping stations and adding 20 more.” The package also targets to minimize the solid waste being dumped in waterways within the project’s timeframe of 2017-2024. On top of this, the same financing institution has provided a $100-million loan for the “Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation” last January 2022.

Billions of our public money has been in the General Appropriations Act every year. We can start by computing the total expenditures on flood control projects for the last three to five years. Then we can audit the results. As they say, we have to bite the bullet.

Perhaps, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) can spearhead the crusade on achieving transparency, such as providing an updated and real-time web-based monitoring on flood control projects.

Secretary Manny Bonoan, having been a successful executive from the private sector and also a respected public servant, will definitely understand and support the value of transparency.