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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider Building a flood-resilient Metro Manila

Building a flood-resilient Metro Manila

Published Nov 28, 2025 12:01 am  |  Updated Nov 27, 2025 05:50 pm
METRO MATTERS

Flooding has been one of the most persistent challenges in Metro Manila and across the Philippines, disrupting daily life, damaging homes, and slowing our progress year after year.
We are now taking a decisive step forward. Our cities need solutions rooted in engineering, guided by data, executed with precision, and supported by a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach to disaster mitigation and resilient urban planning.
On Nov. 12, 2025, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. launched Oplan Kontra Baha in the National Capital Region. It is a long-term, action-focused program that brings every sector together to transform how our cities prevent and manage flooding.
Together with business leaders Ramon Ang and Manny Pangilinan, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, MMDA Chairman Romando Artes, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, NHA General Manager Joeben Tai, and the Metro Manila Mayors, we launched the most synchronized flood control masterplan our region has ever undertaken. Oplan Kontra Baha will restore waterways, revive long-buried rivers, and repair clogged drainage systems. It aims to remove four million cubic meters of silt and waste, clear 142.4 kilometers of rivers, creeks, and esteros, and restore 333 kilometers of drainage networks. The initial phase alone can reduce flooding by up to 60 percent within nine months of continuous dredging, followed by sustained annual funding to secure long-term results.
The program will also remove obstructions that block the natural flow of water, including structures built along rivers and creeks even if they are DPWH-funded for as long as LGUs declare them as nuisance infrastructure projects according to DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, himself. We will do this responsibly. Families whose houses are blocking drainage systems will be relocated and will receive proper housing and livelihood support. Protecting our waterways must go hand in hand with protecting our people.
Oplan Kontra Baha also strengthens solid waste management. Garbage in canals and esteros worsens flooding, so government and private sector partners will establish modern waste-to-energy facilities. These facilities will reduce landfill waste, keep trash out of waterways, and support our long-term goal of cleaner and healthier cities.
As president of the Metro Manila Council, I stand in full support of this effort as a core part of long-term urban planning in our region. As National President of the League of Cities of the Philippines, I also support its nationwide expansion to Cebu, Bacolod, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Davao, and more. A flood-resilient Philippines requires every city to act with urgency and resolve.
Even with a strong masterplan and modern equipment, we cannot succeed without a change in mindset. Flooding is not only an engineering issue. It is also a matter of discipline. Oplan Kontra Baha includes a renewed drive for proper waste management, stronger enforcement in every barangay, and higher penalties for violations. Every piece of trash thrown in the wrong place contributes to a larger problem. Every Filipino has a role in keeping our communities clean.
The true strength of Oplan Kontra Baha lies in synchronized execution. The national government, local governments, private partners, communities, and households must work together with the bayanihan spirit that defines us. A safer and flood-resilient Philippines is not an aspiration. It is a shared mission.
Let us move forward with clarity and determination. Every river we clear, every waterway we restore, and every community we strengthen brings us closer to a Metro Manila that no longer fears the rains. This is our city, our region, and our responsibility. I invite all citizens to be part of the work ahead, take pride in our collective progress, and help build a Philippines that rises above every challenge.
(Mayor Francis Zamora of the City of San Juan is the president of the Metro Manila Council, the chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, the vice chairman of the Regional Development Council, and the regional representative of the National Capital Region in the League of Cities of the Philippines.)

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