President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said the government is looking to build water impounding facilities outside Metro Manila to manage the country's water resources and protect coastal communities. President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Photo courtesy of Malacañang)
This as Marcos tasked  the Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to come up with a comprehensive plan to protect coastal communities and Metro Manila from flooding. "Gumagawa kami ngayon ng paraan para maipon ang tubig. Naghahanap ngayon kami ng mga lugar sa labas ng Maynila kung saan pwedeng maglagay ng large impounding na areas para doon natin kokontrolin, hindi na papasok dito sa Maynila at meron pa tayong naipon na tubig para sa agrikultura (We are now coming up with a plan to gather water. We are now looking for sites outside Manila where we can build large impounding areas to control the water, so that it would not enter Metro Manila and at the same time we have water for agriculture)," Marcos said on Tuesday, June 13. The President said this following a briefing with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and National Irrigation Authority (NIA) on the management of dammed rivers. During the briefing, the President noted the P351 billion estimated cost of flood control projects of the DPWH in Metro Manila as well as in the surrounding areas. “Pinapatingnan ko kung papaano ang kailangan, ano pa yung dadagdag natin. Malaki, bilyon-bilyon na ang ginagastos natin para maglagay ng mga dike, maglagay ng mga waterway, mga spillway, pati pumping station dito sa NCR (National Capital Region) ay napag-usapan namin para mas marami at maging mas efficient ang paglabas ng tubig (I asked them to check what we need and what we must add. We are spending billions to build dikes, waterways, spillways, pumping stations in NCR, we talked about it to provide an efficient way to manage water resources),” Marcos said. Marcos underscored the need for a comprehensive plan to control where the floodwaters should go and what should be done to also protect coastal communities. The briefing also focused on other ongoing flood control projects in Pampanga, Cavite, Leyte and Cagayan De Oro City, as well as the construction of access roads leading to irrigation areas identified by the NIA under the Katubigan Program implemented jointly with the DPWH. The highlights included the rainwater collection system program under Republic Act No. 6716, with a total cost of Php5.86 billion for the construction and installation of 6,002 rainwater collection systems in various parts of the country. Major flood control projects that are on the pipeline include the flood protection infrastructures in the Abra River Basin, Ranao River Basin and Tagum-Libuganon River Basin, the Central Luzon-Pampanga River Floodway Flood Control Project, among others. Aside from those initiatives, Marcos said the government is also monitoring the climate crisis because of its devastating effects to various sectors.