3 days ago
Poor planning, not climate change sinking Metro Manila —urban planner Palafox
Metro Manila's annual floods are often blamed on climate change — but for architect and urban planner Felino 'Jun' Palafox Jr., it's just an easy excuse masking decades of government inaction.
'Climate change is real. But it is not the main reason Metro Manila is underwater every year,' Palafox said. 'If we had acted on the plans we've had since the 1970s, our cities would be far more resilient today, even with stronger storms," he said.
Palafox, whose four-decade career spans 45 countries and more than 1,700 projects, said the worsening floods are a man-made disaster, driven less by nature than by political short-sightedness. He estimates there are at least 150 flood control recommendations — prepared by local and international experts — that remain unimplemented.
Shelved solutions
Among the most prominent is the Parañaque Spillway, a project first included in the Metro Manila Flood Control Master Plan in the 1970s. Designed to channel excess water from Laguna Lake to Manila Bay during heavy rains, it would have prevented the backflow that inundates Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, and other lakeshore communities.
'It's been in every master plan for 50 years,' Palafox said. 'But it was never built. Instead, we keep studying the same problem while people suffer the same floods.'
Another abandoned initiative was the Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project with a Belgian firm. It aimed to dredge the lake by half a meter, restoring its floodwater storage capacity and reducing siltation from surrounding rivers. The Aquino administration canceled it in 2010, leading to a P1-billion penalty after the Philippines lost in international arbitration, and no alternative project was pursued.
Other countries moved, PH stalled
Palafox said the non-implementation of the flood control programs was not a question of technical capacity.
In the Netherlands, the Delta Works system of polders, dikes, and surge barriers has kept low-lying land dry for decades. Japan's Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel — a 6.3-kilometer network of tunnels with cathedral-like underground tanks — diverts typhoon floodwaters away from Tokyo.
Closer to home, Vietnam has invested in large-scale flood control canals in Ho Chi Minh City, while Thailand manages monsoon flows through the Chao Phraya Dam system.
'These countries didn't wait for perfect conditions,' Palafox said. 'They started building. That's why they're ahead of us.'
In the Philippines, Palafox says, the real obstacle is political discontinuity. Flood control projects often require 10 to 15 years to complete — far beyond a president's six-year term.
'That's the problem — we plan for six years, not for the next generation,' he said. 'Flood control doesn't get ribbon-cutting ceremonies. It's mostly underground, invisible. So politicians don't prioritize it.'
The result: Metro Manila still depends on 1970s-era pumping stations, narrow and silted rivers, and a drainage network overwhelmed by rapid urban sprawl. Natural floodplains have been paved over for development, while informal settlements block critical waterways.
The cost of delay
With climate change intensifying storms, the stakes are rising. Typhoons Ondoy (2009), Ulysses (2020), and Carina (2024) displaced millions, killed hundreds, and caused tens of billions of pesos in damage. Even moderate rains now trigger flash floods, crippling transportation and commerce.
'Every year we delay, we pay the price — in lives lost, property destroyed, and businesses disrupted,' Palafox warned. 'Climate change is a factor, but our failure to prepare turns storms into disasters.'
Palafox then called for legislation that would protect long-term infrastructure plans from being scrapped by succeeding administrations. He also urged the immediate revival of completed feasibility studies for flood control, drainage improvement, and urban water management.
'We cannot control the rain,' he said. 'But we can control how prepared we are. Stop using climate change as an excuse. Start building what we've been planning for 50 years," he added.—LDF, GMA Integrated News
