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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Visayas devider Benitez eyes flood mitigation masterplan for Bacolod

Benitez eyes flood mitigation masterplan for Bacolod

Published Dec 9, 2025 10:23 pm
BENITEZ (FB)
BENITEZ (FB)
BACOLOD CITY – This highly-urbanized city is targeting to craft a flood mitigation masterplan to comprehensively address flooding here.
This will be discussed during the Flood Mitigation Summit initiated by Bacolod Rep. Albee Benitez on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Sugarland Hotel here.
“The masterplan will be the whole city’s blueprint in solving our long fight with flooding,” Benitez said, as he acknowledged that flooding may be a tragic reality of the history and the present, but people should refuse to make it an accepted reality in the future.
“We want to show that when a city’s people work together for a common purpose, we can rise above any challenge,” he said.
Benitez said participants will further discuss a consolidated matrix from the first summit last October outlining key problems and proposed short-, medium-, and long-term interventions.
The citizen-led Bacolod Anti-Baha Alliance, together with national agency representatives and local officials, will present their position papers.
The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev)-Negros Island Region (NIR) and other civil society groups will also share their synthesis of the identified issues, recommended solutions, and the body’s overall discussions.
A technical working group will be created to convert the finalized matrix into a white paper, which will form the initial draft of the Flood Mitigation Masterplan.
“Flooding is a problem that faces many of our kababayan, and we hope this summit can offer a blueprint for the rest of the country,” Benitez said.
Benitez said this summit is necessary to arrive at real, workable, and future-ready solutions suitable for a thriving and rapidly developing city.
“We are proud to note that as we gear toward this, we have involved as many stakeholders as possible, from national government agencies to civil society organizations, and even Bacolodnons themselves,” he said.
He expressed hope for another productive summit, thanking stakeholders who have actively participated for their continued concern for the city.
“One of the main reasons why I believe we will eventually succeed in solving chronic flooding is because Bacolodnons love their city and are willing to do what it takes to preserve and protect their heritage and well-being,” Benitez said in a statement.

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