EDITORIAL — Zero flooding

There was no typhoon, but a low-pressure area and the southwest monsoon were forecast to bring “scattered or widespread rains” in the National Capital Region and other parts of Luzon. By Wednesday night, the rains had spawned heavy flooding in many areas in the NCR, stranding commuters.

As the downpours continued, people going to work yesterday found themselves stuck in traffic along flooded streets. On the northbound lane of the South Luzon Expressway, clogged drainage in Bicutan turned the road into a virtual parking lot all the way to Alabang in Muntinlupa until early afternoon, and even the Skyway was flooded.

Along España, it took about two hours for the heavy flooding to subside. The Department of Public Works and Highways apologized for the inconvenience that it attributed, ironically, to the ongoing construction of a “zero flooding” project. The projected completion is set by the end of the year, the DPWH-NCR said, meaning more flooding can be expected throughout the entire wet season. The DPWH said before the project was started, floods along España had been subsiding faster, within just about 30 minutes.

The bad weather prompted the cancellation of several domestic flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Repeated red lightning alerts also delayed the unloading of luggage from arriving flights at the NAIA.

Metro Manila and neighboring areas have been suffering from floods for centuries, so you’d think prevention and mitigation measures would have been in place ages ago.

The government even slaps an amusement tax on cinema viewing ostensibly for flood control programs. Yet every year, Metro Manila residents see the same flooding due to the same problems: clogged drainage, poorly coordinated construction activities, and the mindset that since we’re all so used to it anyway, why don’t we just grin and bear it?

It doesn’t have to be so. About a third of the Netherlands is below sea level and much of the rest of the country is vulnerable to flooding, with the risk now heightened by climate change, but it has been employing technology and political will to address its existential problem. The Philippines does not have the resources of the Netherlands, but there must be something more that can be done beyond stewing for hours in Carmageddon every time there is a heavy downpour, and then hearing an apology from those who are supposed to be doing more to deal with the problem.