Drainage Disaster

Every year, we see the same heartbreaking scenes: homes submerged, roads impassable, families stranded — and, tragically, lives lost. 

The recent devastation brought by Severe Tropical Storm Crising and the enhanced southwest monsoon is no longer just a wake-up call. 

It is an alarm that’s been ringing for decades — and we continue to hit snooze.

At least 12 lives were lost, P4 billion in infrastructure destroyed, and P217 million worth of crops ruined. In Metro Manila alone, over 600 tons of garbage — from broken furniture to tree trunks — had to be cleared from streets, creeks, and canals. 

This isn’t just the work of nature. This is what happens when outdated infrastructure meets chronic neglect and public indifference.

MMDA Chairman Atty. Romando “Don” Artes could not have put it more bluntly: Metro Manila’s flood control system is more than 50 years old. Our pumping stations are being choked by trash and overworked by storms they were never designed to handle. 

Artes is right — we urgently need a long-term drainage master plan that not only upgrades our antiquated systems, but also aligns with today’s climate realities.

But while the government must act decisively, so must the public. 

The MMDA’s post-storm cleanup collected 526.8 tons of waste from pumping stations and another 76.9 tons from nearby neighborhoods — a staggering reflection of how poor waste management worsens flooding. 

Plastics and junk clog drainage, break equipment, and cause pump failures. In Artes’s own words: “Flooding is not just caused by rain, but by our own trash, too.”

So what must be done? First, national and local governments must work together to fund and implement a comprehensive, forward-looking flood control program. This includes upgrading pump stations, unclogging waterways year-round, and integrating climate-resilient infrastructure into urban planning.

Second, Metro Manila’s residents — all of us — must take responsibility for our environment. Proper waste disposal is not a courtesy; it’s a lifeline. Dumping trash into creeks or streets is a slow form of sabotage against our own safety.

Flooding may be a fact of life in a tropical country, but the scale of destruction and death is not inevitable. 

If we want a safer, more livable metropolis, we must stop blaming the skies — and start fixing what’s broken beneath our feet.