Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Party-list Rep. Robert Nazal has filed a bill in the current 20th Congress that would create a more proactive response to the threat of floods whenever there's a heavy downpour.

Nazal recently filed House Bill (HB) No. 830, which promotes the construction of farm-level water catchment systems across the country.

The rookie lawmaker says such water catchment systems can prevent catastrophic flooding. This, as torrential rains and water dam discharges recently submerged communities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Nazal warned that without sustainable water retention infrastructure, the country will continue to suffer massive losses every time typhoons and monsoons hit.

“It’s time to stop reacting and start preparing. We must build localized water catchment systems not only for irrigation and food security but also to protect lives and homes from relentless flooding. Every drop we harvest is a flood we prevent,” he said.

While designed primarily to close the irrigation gap for more than one million hectares of rain-dependent farmland, the proposed measure also addresses worsening climate risks and repeated disasters caused by sudden water releases from major dams.

The bill provides incentives such as value-added tax (VAT) exemptions, property tax relief, concessional financing, and technical assistance to farmers and communities that adopt the system.

It also mandates the integration of catchment projects in local land use and development plans.

BH spokesperson and former representative Bernadette Herrera, who in 2020 called for a House probe into the irresponsible and untimely release of water from several Luzon dams during Typhoon "Ulysses", said the government has failed to learn from past disasters.

“Five years after Ulysses, we are still seeing the same deadly pattern. Rains come, dams spill and our people pay the price,” Herrera said.

She added that the country still lacks adequate catchment basins, degraded watersheds remain unrehabilitated, and dam operations lack transparency and foresight. Without systemic reform, she said, communities will remain vulnerable to floods that could have been prevented.

Herrera also cited data showing that of the 142 critical watersheds in the Philippines, only 21 catchment basins exist. She said this deficiency continues to put low-lying areas at risk.

The state weather bureau PAGASA has confirmed that five major dams in Luzon—La Mesa in Quezon City, Upper Wawa in Rizal, Ipo in Bulacan, and Ambuklao and Binga in Benguet—have released water.

These discharges follow earlier releases from Angat and Bustos Dams, which already inundated parts of Bulacan and the cities of Valenzuela, Malabon and Quezon.

“Dams alone cannot carry the burden of the country’s water management. We need a national network of smaller water retention systems that can absorb excess rainfall and reduce flood damage,” Nazal stressed.