“An artificially-revamped geography is clearing the path for devastation and loss of lives.”
Tropical storms and typhoons with increasing intensity lately are wreaking havoc on the Philippines. Coastlines and flood-prone areas are defenseless against these forces of nature. An artificially-revamped geography is clearing the path for devastation and loss of lives.
The government, clearly taken aback by the high death toll from severe Tropical Storm Kristine (Trami) last week and the flooding that displaced thousands in the Bicol Rgion and Batangas province, is revisiting integrated plans for the country’s 18 major river basins to mitigate flooding and create livelihoods at the same time.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and several other departments to develop integrated plans for the major river basins.
The administration specifically stressed an updated Bicol River Basin Development Project that will prioritize flood mitigation.
Climate change left its imprint in Bicol and Batangas provinces. The recent rainfall in Bicol during the onslaught of Kristine was double that registered during Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) in 2009.
Faulty urban planning policies are also aggravating natural disasters. Tropical storm Enteng (Yagi) in early September caused heavy flooding in several parts of the metropolis and the nearby towns of Rizal, Cavite and Bulacan provinces.
As the United Nations pointed out in its sustainable development goals, many cities are more vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters due to their high concentration of people and location. It added that building urban resilience was crucial to avoid human, social and economic losses.
Reduced vegetation cover as a result of urbanization is also leading to frequent floods in Metro Manila and Rizal province.
“Based on our analysis, Metro Manila is prone to flooding also partly because the entire downstream area, namely Marikina, Cainta and San Mateo, is built-up and therefore all rain falling in the downstream are converted into floodwaters,” said Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary for Integrated Environmental Science Carlos Primo David after Enteng recently inundated Metro Manila and outlying provinces.
“The largest opportunity in decreasing floods are the conversion of moderate vegetation areas into dense forests and rationalize built-up development. Rivers must also be restored and cleared of obstructions within their natural floodplains,” David added.
The DENR official presented satellite images, showing how vegetation cover in the 69,817-hectare Marikina River Basin has decreased over the last 10 years. Between January 2014 and January 2024, the DENR-GDO found “notable negative changes in the vegetation cover in the river basin mainly due to urbanization.”
“Increased rain intensity and frequency due to climate change, depleted forest cover, land conversion, and modification of our waterways are among the reasons why Metro Manila and Rizal get easily inundated with floodwaters much too often,” said David.
It doesn’t help if our waterways remain clogged with waste and plastics. The disasters in Bicol and Batangas province are prime examples of mismanaged waste.
The accumulation of waste, coupled with inadequate or outdated drainage infrastructure, according to the Climate Change Commission (CCC), significantly contributes to severe flooding in Metro Manila and nearby cities and provinces whenever a typhoon strikes.
As heavy rains overwhelm drainage systems, the massive volume of improperly disposed plastics, food wrappers and other debris blocks waterways, preventing floodwaters from receding quickly.
The CCC says the waste not only intensifies floods but also endangers coastal ecosystems. In the ocean, it contaminates marine habitats, harms coral reefs and depletes marine biodiversity. The degradation leads to declining fish populations, threatening food security for communities dependent on fishing, such as the Bicol region and Batangas.
The Philippines, meanwhile, may have to deal with more intense storms in the future and larger volume of water that will overwhelm existing flood control systems.
It is also time to take a closer look at new flood-control measures that include building impounding projects upstream to prevent water from reaching low-lying areas and merely emptying into the open sea.
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