As floodwaters rose, media failed to focus on flood control
JULY OPENED the rainy season with simultaneous storms hitting the country. Cruising, Dante, and Emong all caused floodwaters to rise rapidly around the city. On July 28, media reports highlighted the president’s anger about the failure of the country’s flood-control projects.
Top stories on July 28 also recorded the threats made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 28. He said officials implicated in corrupt transactions connected to flood projects will face charges in the coming months. In Filipino, he said openly and clearly, “Mahiya naman kayo.”
There have been no stronger presidential pledge expressed by his more recent predecessors to address the perennial plague of flooding in the nation’s capital.
In 2024
In July last year, he claimed during his third SONA that he had implemented approximately 5,500 flood-control projects nationwide. Ironically, as he spoke, Severe Tropical Storm Kristine had already begun to inundate many areas in Metro Manila.
In August of the same year, Undersecretary Emil Sadain of the Department of Public Works qualified the president’s assertions, admitting that the country lacked a cohesive national flood-control master plan. Despite decades of devastating floods and billions spent on infrastructure, Sadain said only stand-alone and short-term projects exist to address the situation.
The 5,5000 completed flood control projects were small-scale solutions that could not begin to prevent flooding in the most vulnerable areas. The approach or strategy would never work to make Metro Manila flood-free.
In November 2024, Marcos himself again took to the media to express deep disappointment as well as perplexity about the state of affairs. Radio, newspapers, and TV reported the level of dismay, airing the question everyone was asking: “Where are the flood control projects?”
Fast forward to 2025
During the 2025 budget deliberations, media reported that President Marcos vetoed PHP16.7 billion worth of flood-control projects, citing their “ambiguous” status. According to the Department of Budget and Management Undersecretary Goddes Libiran, these projects were not “implementation-ready” and were thus not included in the original National Expenditures Program (NEP). Media should track what has been done to get these projects moving.
GMA News Online outlined and specified the proposals for basic infrastructure program, rehabilitation, and maintenance of flood-mitigation facilities. But the excellent report stopped short of discussing project readiness and the criteria to determine this.
Clearly, the government has yet to take any action. Media reported the presidential veto of PHP16.7 billion worth of flood control written into the 2025 national budget because of the lack of preparation, the unclear criteria indicating a lack of a plan of action, all of which indicating that for all his anger about the lack of implementation to address flooding, Marcos Jr.’s administration has not actually taken on flood control in a significant way. So far, there is still a need to create a comprehensive plan of action and a coordinated and long-term approach to the task.
Clearly, the chief executive must share the blame for the dismal state of flood control. But it is a point that the media did not highlight or emphasize.
As for coverage in general, reports did the usual, detailing the state of flooding in various areas of the city and around the country. But the media did not provide reports to analyse nor to explain the current failed state of flood control.
Typically, when the weather cleared, media focus drifted away from these concerns. News accounts were silent on flood control issues, providing two editorials to discuss the subject.
Inquirer.net and PhilStar’s editorial pieces identified poor planning and inconsistent budget allocations among the problems that prevent government to do more than the piece meal projects to address flood control. Government it turns out has no overall plan, implementing projects without coordination.
Inquirer.net’s editorial referred to the PHP351 billion master plan approved under President Benigno Aquino III’s administration in 2012 of which only 30 per cent has been implemented. Nothing much of its progress has been reported since the flood crisis of 2024.
Both Inquirer and Philstar criticized the implementation of the project, which has been pursued without a larger framework of urban planning and development. The result: separate short-term projects which are subject to delays, leading to the waste of resources as projects prove ineffective.
The subject of flood control in recent reports
After Marcos Jr.’s SONA this July, Bulatlat highlighted the inherent irony of his railing against flood control projects implemented under his watch. Bulatlat labeled his speech “all bark but no bite,” criticizing the president for not naming names and pointing out that Marcos Jr. had yet to file charges when he made his speech.
In June this year, Manila Bulletin cited the claim made by DPWH that the flood intensity in Metro Manila would be reduced by its intensified drainage improvements and clean up of esteros. The agency also reported rehabilitating over 30 pumping stations and completing flood-control projects in low-lying areas. But heavy rains in July and the massive flooding betrayed all of DPWH’s projections.
Reports from Manila Times, ABS-CBN News Online, Manila Standard, and Manila Bulletin, highlighted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) advice to Local Government Units (LGUs) to conduct a science-based analysis on flood-control projects, within the context of climate change and weather pattern changes.
Coverage also included strategies that LGUs can adopt, including better drainage design, improved solid waste management, community engagement, and ecosystem restoration through green infrastructure.
ABS CBN News Online’s article stood out for underscoring the urgency of urban areas, such as Metro Manila, to swiftly implement the recommendation due to the area’s vulnerability to risks of floods.
Despite increasingly severe flooding and growing public concern, media coverage has often remained reactive, relying on official pronouncements, highlighting post-disaster scenarios, or limiting critique to editorial columns. What remains largely missing are investigative follow-ups, progress tracking, and data-informed reports on project implementation.
Despite increasingly severe flooding and growing public concern, media coverage has often remained reactive, relying on official pronouncements, highlighting post-disaster scenarios, without investigative reports on progress of projects.
Journalists should expand the lens with which to reports flood episodes and identify major flood control projects, their location and status, refer to agencies responsible for tracking the progress of each, establishing responsibility for delays or failures.
Reports should help the public know about these projects and help citizens decide whether the work of flood control is being given the serious government attention it deserves.
Flood control in regional media reports
REGIONAL OUTLETS published in-depth reports to provide a more comprehensive understanding of flood-control issues.
MindaNews discussed the two PHP200 million flood-control projects in Barangays Lasang and Bunawan in Davao City where knee-level flooding occurred due to capacity‑overloaded drainage systems. Each project includes construction of cost‑drains (canals) to efficiently channel excess water into nearby bodies, with work set to start once road approvals and national-level “notice to proceed” are secured.
PanayNews, exposed a supposed DPWH Iloilo District Engineering Office’s flood-control project that turned out to cause a floodwater surge despite only moderate rainfall. The report emphasized the frustrations of residents affected by chest-deep flooding in 5 barangays, who were also pointing out the DPWHH engineering project as the cause.
As massive floods hit Bacolod on July 17, coverage from Rappler, Manila Bulletin, Daily Guardian, and Inquirer.net highlighted local officials who planned long-term flood control solutions. These include drainage upgrades, river dredging, floodgates, and pumping stations.
Rappler quoted Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) chief Joan Nathaniel Gerangay, who said that deforestation was a factor in the worsening flood crisis. Rappler took up the need for long-term flood-control infrastructure and picked up all the local leaders for sustainable solutions.
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