Manila floods again: Billions of pesos for flood control, yet Metro Manila is still drowning — 7 possible solutions

Heavy rainfall driven by the enhanced southwest monsoon (known as "habagat") and the successive tropical cyclones Luis and Maymay (international name: Kujira) triggered widespread flooding and landslides across the Philippines, particularly in Luzon and parts of the Visayas.

The systems brought prolonged torrential rains, overflowing rivers, impassable roads, damaged infrastructure, agricultural losses, disruptions to power and water supplies — and death. 

Instense downpour: Intense downpours occurred, with reports of high totals (including station readings in the range of 177 mm+ and, on August 17, peaks approaching or exceeding 200 mm in roughly five hours at PAGASA’s Science Garden station in Quezon City).

This produced waist-deep or deeper floodwaters that left streets impassable in parts of Metro Manila. 

Geographic scope: Widespread flooding and landslides hit Luzon heavily and extended into the Visayas, damaging infrastructure and farmland while disrupting essential services.

Tropical depression/storm: Luis formed earlier in the period, followed by Maymay, which made landfall over Ilocos Sur. These systems, combined with the seasonal monsoon (further enhanced at times by other distant systems), produced extreme rainfall totals that in some mountain areas exceeded monthly averages in a matter of days.

School's out: Classes and government work were suspended in affected areas at times, and assessment teams continued validating impacts as intermittent rains persisted.

The situation remained dynamic, with residual monsoon rains continuing to pose risks of further flooding and landslides in vulnerable areas.

Local and national agencies, including the National Disaster Reductio and Risk Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Office of Civil Defence situation reports showed death tolls and affected-population figures evolved slightly across agencies and dates due to ongoing validation, which is normal in multi-day disaster reporting.

Response efforts continue at both local and national levels.

The public frustration is not simply about heavy rain. It comes against the backdrop of the enormous national spending on flood-control infrastructure — and the Senate investigation into alleged ghost, substandard and anomalous projects.

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has been one of the most vocal critics. In his investigation, he has alleged that the flood-control system became vulnerable to budget insertions, ghost projects, overpricing and kickbacks.

In December 2025, Philippine Star reported Lacson's estimate that about ₱180 billion (about $3 billion) had been lost to ghost flood-control projects since 2016. 

His latest investigations have expanded into Taguig, where Lacson said the case had opened a “cauldron of worms”, citing alleged ghost slope-protection projects and alleged illegal reclamation in Laguna Lake.

Lacson said he had turned evidence over to the Ombudsman.

The allegations have been disputed by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who hails from Taguig. 

Lacson has also repeatedly argued that the problem is not merely the amount of money allocated but how projects are selected, funded, implemented and checked.

That helps explain why flood defences have become a major source of frustration and something of a public joke here: the country can spend billions on structures designed to keep water out, yet residents can still find themselves wading through streets after a few hours of monsoon rain.

But corruption allegations make failures particularly difficult for the public to accept.

The irony is particularly stark in Marikina. The Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project (PMRCIP) is one of Metro Manila's biggest long-term flood-defence schemes, backed by Japan's JICA.

Phase 4 is an ongoing project with a ¥37.905-billion Japanese loan, designed to rehabilitate the river, improve flood conveyance and install major control structures. 

But the project has been years in the making.

In March, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said the government was accelerating dredging, drainage and river works in Marikina.

He identified the Sumulong Drainage, Balanti Creek and Manila Water site as works that needed to be completed together to improve the movement of water into the Marikina River. 

A major remaining obstacle is right-of-way (ROW) for Phase 5 of the Pasig-Marikina project.

Dizon said resolving the ROW problem was necessary to improve water flow and accelerate floodwater recession. 

There is also a timing problem.

In August 2025, DPWH said the river widening and revetment works were targeted for completion by 2028, while critical gate structures at Manggahan and Marikina could extend into 2029. 

So while Manila is flooding now, some of the infrastructure designed to provide a more comprehensive defence is still years away from completion.

Adding to the concern, a House lawmaker this month called for an investigation into the alleged non-operation of two pumping stations near Marikina's Tumana and Malanday areas. 

That highlights a fundamental weakness in the city's flood strategy: a flood-control system is only as strong as its weakest link.

A river channel can be widened, a floodwall built and a pumping station installed — but if drainage connections are incomplete, waterways are clogged, pumps aren't operating or a critical ROW remains unresolved, the water can still accumulate in neighbourhoods.

Posts circulating across X, Facebook and TikTok have amplified images and videos of submerged roads, stranded motorists and residents wading through floodwater.

Social-media posts indicate conditions on the ground, but individual videos cannot independently establish when, where or why flooding occurred.

One particularly important official-social-media thread is DPWH's own explanation that the Pasig-Marikina system is being developed as a multi-part flood-control network, rather than a single wall or river project.

DPWH has described the broader system as including pumping stations, the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project and proposed Upper Marikina flood-retarding infrastructure. 

Meanwhile, a post circulating on the updated Pasig-Marikina flood-control master plan says DPWH and JICA are finalising updated plans for the Pasig-Marikina and Cagayan River basins.

Metro Manila doesn't simply have a “flood-control problem".

It has a flood-management system problem — one involving infrastructure, drainage, waterways, watershed protection, maintenance, land use, project execution and governance.

And the current flooding exposes the gap between money appropriated and protection actually delivered.

Filipinos are demanding honest-to-goodness flood-control probe: If billions are being spent but projects are allegedly ghost-built, duplicated, delayed or subpar, then every major flood becomes more than a weather story.

It becomes a public-accountability story. For millions of Metro Manila residents watching floodwater rise again this week, the question is brutally simple: Should we be contented with having more of the same?

It's clear that a Barangay/municipal or city-level solutions may be helpful but fall short in solving's Manila's persistent flood problems.

The capital, bordered in the east by bigger-than-Singapore Laguna Lake (949 sqkm), is a catchment basin.

Several mountains surround the capital region and adjacent provinces — the Sierra Madre mountain range), Banahaw, Makiling, Pamitinan, Daraitan, Mapalad, Batulao, Maculot, Pico de Loro.

When local flood control projects are left to be managed by local officials/ congressmen/senators, it creates more problems than solutions: kickbacks, false expectations, subpar or outright "ghost" projects.

Manila doesn't need just more concrete or more of the same.

It needs a basin-wide system combining rivers, drainage, pumping, retention, upland reservoirs/dams, land-use controls, early warning and transparent project management.

These are "generational" solutions. They entail a cultural shift, away from the usual thinking involved in once-every-three-years election cycles.

Yet, even now, solutions are possible:

#1. Finish and integrate the Pasig-Marikina flood-control system:

Complete river widening, dredging, floodwalls, gates and drainage works as one system — not isolated projects. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)'s Phase IV is designed specifically to increase river capacity and regulate floodwater. But JICA itself describes the Pasig-Marikina programme as combining structural works with "non-structural flood-risk measures", as well as the need for upstream water reservoirs to hold water for later use such as irrigation, municipal water and hydropower.

#2. Build more upstream flood-retention capacity:

Instead of forcing all rainwater downstream in one run-off, expand "retarding" basins, reservoirs and watershed storage in the Marikina, Rizal, Quezon, Laguna and surrounding upland areas. For example, JICA studies have identified an upper Marikina dam/retarding basin as part of a broader strategy for reducing extreme floods. More such projects warrant careful consideration.

#3. Modernise Manila's drainage and pumping network:

Metro Manila needs functioning, high-capacity pumping stations, larger drainage pipes, backflow gates and regular desilting. Japan's flood-control cooperation in Manila has historically included drainage and pumping stations, while current programmes continue upgrading pumping infrastructure.

#4. Treat the entire watershed — not just the river:

Protect forests and open spaces upstream, restore waterways and wetlands. Flood control cannot work if rainfall rapidly runs off increasingly paved surfaces into already overloaded rivers.

#5. Mandate water cisterns for new development projects:

Require new developments to retain and slowly release stormwater, similar to what the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA). Beneath the Burgos Circle at BGC, a 12-metre deep stormwater tank that can hold 22 million liters was built to prevent flooding from rainwater, before releasing it gradually into local creeks and the Pasig River.

#6. Make flood-control spending measurable and accountable:

Every major project should have a public dashboard showing cost, contractor, location, physical progress, target completion, flood-risk reduction and maintenance status, with independent inspections and penalties for ghost or defective projects. The goal should shift from “How much was spent?” to “How much flood risk was actually removed?” This requires a buy-in from both the people and their leaders.

#7. Pumped-storage hydropower:

Engineer more pumped-storage hydropower projects. If executed properly, this will not only prevent runoff water from flooding low-lying areas during heavy rains, but also conserve water upstream to also produce electricity via slow-release valves.