President Marcos said that the government has identified 30 sites in Metro Manila where underground cisterns could be built to store floodwater as part of efforts to strengthen the capital's flood-management system.

Marcos said this during a situation briefing at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Command Center in Pasig City, where he said the detailed engineering for the proposed sites is expected to be completed within the month.

According to the President, the government is already coordinating with the authorities managing the identified areas to secure permission for excavation, with construction to begin after the sites are prioritized.

“We are already, at present time, conferring and speaking to the areas, kung sinuman ang namamahala doon sa mga area na ‘yun na pumayag sila para hukayin nga ‘yung kanilang lugar (whoever manages those areas to secure their agreement to have their places excavated),” he said.

Among the proposed locations are Rajah Sulayman, Rizal Memorial, Camp Aguinaldo, and the University of Santo Tomas, where underground facilities could be built and the affected areas restored afterward.

The proposed cisterns are part of a broader flood-control effort that includes dredging, drainage upgrades, seawall improvements, and the operation of pumping stations and mobile pumping equipment.

Marcos has directed officials to study ways to reuse water collected through the proposed flood-storage facilities instead of simply discharging it into the sea.

“Gagawa tayo ng sistema para kung anuman ‘yung nakolekta na tubig ay magamit din (We will devise a system to use the water that has been collected),” he said.

He noted that the stored water could potentially be used for household, industrial, or irrigation purposes, adding that it would be wasteful to discard large volumes of freshwater that could still be put to use.

President Marcos said 4,700 barangays and 1.7 million families have been affected by the monsoon, with 27 people killed and 17 others injured.

He said some areas that previously experienced flooding as deep as two storeys were now seeing water reach only knee level, while other areas did not flood.

“Ang isa pang bagay diyan ay mas mabilis na ang paglabas ng tubig (And another thing is that the water is receding faster),” Marcos noted.

“Kung dati maghihintay ang tao ng dalawa, tatlong araw bago mawala ‘yung baha, ngayon wala pang isang araw ay wala na (If people previously had to wait two or three days for the floodwaters to disappear, now they are gone in less than a day),” he said.

The President said all 73 pumping stations were now functioning, while 11 mobile pumping units were also being used as authorities continued dredging and removing floodwaters.

Marcos said 201.7 millimeters of rain fell within five hours, an amount he said was equivalent to 44 percent of the rainfall recorded during Typhoon Ondoy over 24 hours.

“‘Yan ang ating hinaharap ngayon dahil nga sa climate change (That is what we are facing now because of climate change),” he said.

“Now this is a little bit — becoming a little bit like the new normal,” he added.

The President said the government’s flood-control measures, including dredging, drainage improvements, and pumping operations, had helped reduce the impact of the latest flooding.

“This is the effect of the work of the last six, seven months na nakita natin, nakabawas kaagad (that we have seen, which immediately reduced the impact),” he said.

Marcos said the government would continue dredging, pumping, and upgrading flood-control infrastructure while pursuing short-, medium-, and long-term solutions to increasingly severe flooding.