Living with water: Flood control is also a governance problem

Do not fool or fight Mother Nature. Mother Nature always wins. I am not an engineer, psychologist, or a sociologist, but I learned a lot from professor Randy David, a sociologist, when he discussed the construction of an artificial island for Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Japan (see “Living with water,” Public Lives, 9/6/26).

He described the work of Japanese engineers, starting with rock and soil from the mountains as landfill down to the bed of the water. In spite of some natural flooding, the Japanese engineers controlled the sinking of the island by continuous observation and use of jacks and columns to keep the island afloat.

With the long-standing floods in Manila, Bulacan, and Pampanga, he mentioned the difference in the system management of KIX in Osaka Bay and flooded areas of Manila, Pampanga, and Bulacan. KIX, being an airport, is managed by one operator with a crew of engineers who work by the book. These flood-prone areas in the Philippines have no one body operating and managing them. In addition, houses and buildings in the past, and even recently, were built even on areas that are flood-prone. Even if there are building codes, almost nobody follows them completely.

David mentioned that “flood control is not merely an engineering problem but a governance problem that presumes institutional memory, continuous monitoring, and a reliable system of warning.“ We, in the Philippines, don’t have any of those, aggravated by systemic corruption in the government, especially in the Department of Public Works and Highways.

As an ordinary citizen, trying to do something about flood control, I would suggest the following:

1) Start with yourself by dividing the garbage we generate into organic for composting, recyclables, and general garbage for landfill. Try not to pollute the environment by cutting down on the use of plastics, shifting to old-fashioned leaves, regular paper, etc. Try not to dump garbage that will clog small canals. Teach this in schools and even in church. Global warming and climate change are here.

2) Establish some form of community boards, bigger and more powerful than the local barangays, to control permits and the construction of new houses and buildings or developments that can clog our waterways and destroy our environment. They have the last say on the approval of these constructions.

3) The government must come in by providing working pumping stations to dry out flooded areas (Manila had these before) and seek consultations locally and from other parts of the world with a history of flooding, like the Netherlands, for help and guidance. Pass strict laws on construction in low-lying areas prone to flooding.

4) The government and citizens must watch carefully the construction of flood control projects, and most importantly, their maintenance and upkeep. Citizens must report to government agencies any unusual activities in the construction, like unfinished projects caused by corruption.

David ended his article by stating “The engineers at Kansai Airport did not stop the sinking. Instead they provided for a system of continuous adjustment. That is the part we have not copied.” … AN EYE OPENER!

Ida M. Tiongco,
idationgco @gmail.com

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