No national flood control plan as DPWH seeks targeted approach

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has yet to create a national plan for flood control after experts advised a targeted approach.

During the House Committee on Appropriations' hearing of the agency's budget, Akbayan Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno asked DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon if it was true that there was still no national plan for flood control and drainage.

"You are correct, Cong. Chel that's the strategy of the department over the course of the last couple of years, more than that even, to have masterplans per river, per major river basin. So, wala po talagang consolidated national plan (So, there really is no consolidated national plan)," Dizon said.

Dizon said all 18 of the country's major river basins already have a flood control plan, as was the recommendation of the DPWH's foreign partners.

However, 14 of these 18 plans are still being updated, Dizon said. The agency is hoping to have its foreign consultants finish the updates by 2027.

"Is the Executive department abandoning the idea of coming up with a national plan and simply relying on plans for major river basins as well as urban centers?" Diokno asked.

The DPWH chief replied that this was not the case per se, as there were still general guidelines that guided each flood control project.

This included a focus on upstream intervention rather than downstream, as well as focusing on retarding basins rather than putting up more dikes and revetments.

"I think there are general principles that are applicable nationwide, however, the specific interventions according to the experts, as they were explaining it to me, need to be on a per river basin, major river basin, and per locality level," Dizon said.

However, Diokno pointed out that without a national plan, those general principles may not be applied consistently across the years.

"How can we expect to develop rationally in the coming five, 10, or 15 years without this kind of comprehensive approach?" Diokno said.

While Dizon said that there is no national flood control plan yet, the agency supported the Master Plan on Infrastructure and National Development Bill—a 30-year plan to develop the country's structures.

Flood mitigation could also be included in the bill, Dizon said. — VDV, GMA News