Flood control fiasco cuts funding for Iligan rivers
(Second of three parts)
ILIGAN CITY—In Barangay Ubaldo Laya, along the eastern bank of the Iligan River, a government flood control project was blamed for bringing floods to an area that was previously safe.
Village resident Adelfa Mansanera, 62, said her neighborhood in Purok 14 was not affected by Typhoon “Sendong” (international name: Washi) in 2011, but she observed that after the construction of a flood control project in the barangay, their side of the river became more vulnerable and was eventually washed out by floodwaters.
“During Sendong, our homes here were not flooded. The water level rose, but it did not overflow into our area because there was no riprap yet on the opposite side. When the riprap was later constructed on that side, our community became the one affected by flooding,” she said in the vernacular.
“The project should have been implemented on both sides at the same time,” she asserted.
Barangay Palao resident Hydeline Sagolili agreed with Mansanera.
“The riprap construction should have been carried out simultaneously,” Sagolili said.
Determined to address the shortcomings that led to the massive destruction spawned by the weak but rain-heavy Sendong, the Iligan City local government initiated Project Daloy.
Sendong dumped a one-day rainfall of 161.1 millimeters in the city, higher than the 117 mm monthly average during December in nearby Cagayan de Oro City. Such a deluge led to floods that destroyed 5,246 houses, damaged 14,874 others, and led to the death, mostly by drowning, of over 400 people.
The 2011 floods also wrecked some P295 million in public infrastructure and destroyed crops across 1,400 hectares of farms.
Dredging
According to Elsa Maquiling, the City Planning and Development Coordinator, Project Daloy was intended to map the communities located within floodplains and formulate specific risk reduction programs for each.
The initiative was presented to the Iligan City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in December 2025 for funding under the 2026 Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.
But before it could move to implementation, Typhoon “Basyang” (Penha) struck on Feb. 6 this year, spawning floods that displaced over 16,000 families mostly living in outlying communities of the Iligan River and killing four due to drowning.
At least 1,800 houses, up to P94.56 million in public infrastructure, P42.3 million in crops and livestock, and P47.3 million in assets owned by micro, small and medium enterprises were damaged by the floods triggered by a one-day rainfall of 383 mm.
“Following the devastation caused by Basyang, the scope (of Project Daloy) was expanded to become more comprehensive, incorporating catalytic projects, such as drainage improvements, river dredging, and other flood mitigation measures,” according to Maquiling.
At present, a desilting effort is done in the Iligan River, started several months ago under the auspices of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Michael Mar Demecillo, weather specialist at the Iligan station of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said dredging is key in helping reduce flood risks but stressed that it should not be the only measure.
“If DPWH and the local government have the necessary funding and coordinate their efforts, Tubod Bridge should be elevated and the river channel widened. Doing so would increase the river’s capacity to hold and convey floodwaters,” he said.
The Iligan River emanates from the mountains of nearby Tagoloan town, Lanao del Norte. From a maximum elevation of over 609.6 meters (2,000 feet), its waters snake down along a 19-kilometer channel that passes through nine of the city’s villages before emptying into Iligan Bay.
The river’s drainage area comprises some 242.53 square km of mostly cultivated lands, a considerable portion of grassland and some patches of open canopy forest in the hinterlands.
From Tipanoy, before it meanders through the urban villages, the channel is some 100 meters wide but the path narrows toward its mouth.
Maquiling acknowledged that a number of these strategic measures require hefty funding support from the national government.
But with the recent controversy surrounding flood control projects that led to House and Senate investigations, the DPWH and Congress had low appetite for funding such initiatives.
All flood control project proposals submitted by the District Engineering Offices (DEOs) for implementation in 2026 were withdrawn and were not provided with budget allocations, said Aly Khan Ali, district engineer of the first DEO of Lanao del Norte.
He said about 300 projects have been proposed over the past 14 years to prevent another Sendong-like disaster in Iligan City, but he is unsure which were funded.
Ali said sustained desilting and flood control efforts require dedicated government funding.
(This story was produced with support from the Earth Journalism Network.)
