President Marcos has tasked government agencies to ensure that the infrastructure being built is responsive to the needs of the present and anticipates the worst following the recent flooding in Mindanao.

Marcos said this as he witnessed the signing of the civil works contracts for the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project (DPTMP) in Davao City, on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

In his speech, the President said that not only should infrastructure projects be completed on time, on spec, and within budget, but they should also anticipate circumstances, particularly those related to climate change.

"There is another instruction to all agencies that I need fully complied with— of which the recent flooding in Mindanao has empathically shown. The infrastructure we are building must not only wipe out the arrears of the past but must respond to the needs of the present and anticipate circumstances in the future," he said.

"We must build while bearing in mind the worst the future will bring — of the earth getting hotter, getting wetter — and not on outdated assumptions that no longer apply," he added.

According to Marcos, the government cannot fully serve the people if it gets stuck with data from the past.

"We cannot build climate-resilient infrastructure for our children based on the rainfall and temperature records during our parents' time," he said.

Several areas in the Davao Region have been submerged in flood following the continuous rains that started on Jan. 28. In Davao City, 23 barangays were placed in a state of calamity due to flooding and landslides.

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that the number of people who died due to the flooding rose to 18.

It added that 1,122,975 individuals or 324,040 families were affected by the bad weather in Northern Mindanao (Region X), Davao Region, Soccsksargen (Region XII), Caraga (Region XIII), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Of this, 795,057 individuals or 200,847 families were displaced due to the flooding and landslides.