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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Barbers bats for 'smarter, better' ways to prepare for typhoons, floods

Barbers bats for 'smarter, better' ways to prepare for typhoons, floods

Published Aug 5, 2025 02:26 pm

At A Glance

  • Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Bernadette Barbers has called on the government and Filipinos in general to adopt a more proactive and resilient approach in preparing for natural calamities.
Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Bernadette Barbers (Facebook)
Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Bernadette Barbers (Facebook)


Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Bernadette Barbers has called on the government and Filipinos in general to adopt a more proactive and resilient approach in preparing for natural calamities.
Barbers had this to say Tuesday, Aug. 5, a couple of weeks removed from the torrential rains and incidence of enhanced Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) that led to major flooding in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.
This was also a major talking point during the President Marcos' State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 28--the first SONA that Barbers heard as a legislator.
“There is truth in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s statement that natural disasters are inevitable, and the effects of climate change—such as heavier rainfall and more frequent typhoons—are now part of our ‘new normal,” Barbers said
“We cannot prevent typhoons or monsoons, but we can prepare smarter and better," said the wife of her predecessor, former three-term congressman Robert Ace Barbers.
While the government continues to implement flood control measures, the neophyte congresswoman emphasized that public participation and home-level solutions were equally crucial in minimizing the impacts of floods.
One such way to "prepare smarter and better" is embodied in Barbers' measure, House Bill (HB) No. 931, which she filed a few weeks ago.
It is titled “An Act Requiring All New Residential, Commercial, and Institutional Buildings in the Philippines to Install Rainwater Collection System, and Providing Penalties Therefor.”
The proposed measure aims to reduce flood volume during rainy seasons and ensure water availability during emergencies, especially in Metro Manila and other flood-prone areas, Barbers added.
Under the bill, all new buildings—residential, commercial, or institutional—must incorporate a rainwater collection system in their architectural design as a precondition for building permit approval.
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and Local Government Units (LGUs) shall be responsible for enforcing this requirement.
It says existing building owners are encouraged to retrofit with a rainwater harvesting system and will be entitled to a 10 percent tax credit on their real property tax for two years upon compliance.
Meanwhile, non-compliant owners or developers of new residential, commercial and institutional buildings shall be penalized with fines ranging from ₱100,000.00 to ₱500,000.00 per year of non-compliance.
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