As the country experiences the onslaught of two strong typhoons, Tino and Uwan, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) are hard pressed to complete the World Bank-funded Metro Manila Flood Management Project.

Approved in 2017, the project was scheduled to have ended last year but has been extended until 2026. The World Bank reported that to date, 62.36 percent of the project, or $115.33 million out of the reduced financing amounting to $184.94 million, have been disbursed. Hence, $69.61 million still needs to be spent before the extended closing date of Nov. 30, 2026.

The World Bank reported that, In terms of covered areas, project implementation has so far “[achieved] 1,540 hectares out of a target of 2,673 hectares of land that are free of water within 24 hours after a major rainfall,” which will protect 675,455 Metro Manila residents from floods—more than half of the targeted total of over 1.056 million.

Note that the key objective is to prevent floods that will hamper the movement of people and goods after prolonged and persistent rains. Moreover, effective flood control diminishes the possibility of injury or death, as well as damage to homes and properties.

Another important aspect of the project has been the clean-up of 10 kilometers of waterways, just as “an additional 59 cubic meters per second of pumping capacity has been achieved.” A corollary benefit has been attained: 475 out of 553 total project-affected households have been relocated as of end-October 2025.

Recall that in 2017, the Philippines borrowed a combined $415.2 million from the World Bank and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to bankroll most of the costs for this project, which was originally intended to protect 1.7 million Filipinos living near 56 “potentially critical” drainage systems across 11,110 hectares of flood-prone areas in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Through the national budget, the government would shoulder the remaining $84.8 million for this $500-million flood control project, which is being jointly implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the DPWH, and MMDA.

What invites closer scrutiny is the finding that project implementation had been sluggish, starting with project design, as well as determining the number and location of drainage and pumping station sites. This deplorable situation was further aggravated by delayed procurement as an offshoot of bureaucratic inefficiency.

Had this World Bank- and AIIB-backed project been implemented as scheduled, flooding experienced in the aftermath of last year and this year’s strong typhoons that battered Metro Manila could have been avoided, or minimized. Fortuitously, this center of economic, political and social activity has not been directly hit by calamitous typhoons.

Yet, citizens and residents of the capitol region are keenly aware of controversial appropriations and disbursements pertaining to flood control that have been attributed to their congressional representatives. Fortunately, major infrastructure projects financed by global financial institutions undergo more rigorous control and monitoring. This is in sharp contrast to the massive irregularities that have been uncovered in the implementation of flood control projects funded through the General Appropriations Act.

Hopefully, there will be no major snags and delays that will impede completion in 2026, and that through improved governance and management, the inflow of multilateral assistance for major infrastructure projects will continue.