Residents evacuate with their few belongings in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City, one of the low-lying areas where floodwaters rose quickly as Tropical Storm Paeng drew nearer to Metro Manila on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. (File photo by LYN RILLON /Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. wants to question the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) about the persisting vulnerability of roads to flooding whenever it rains heavily.
“This situation is frustrating — whenever it rains there’s a flood. There are so many projects and billions of pesos spent to prevent flooding, but it still happens again and again. We must sit down and, once and for all, come up with workable and effective solutions,” Revilla said, partly in Filipino, in a statement issued on Monday.
In particular, Revilla said he would want to summon DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan and MMDA Chair Romand Artes to discuss the issue.
Revilla did not say when this meeting would take place.
Citing data from the General Act from 2019-2023, Revilla said DPWH was given a budget of P594.62 billion and MMDA P6 billion to address the persistent flooding problem.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, 425 flooding incidents were recorded nationwide following the onslaught of Super Typhoon Egay and the southwest monsoon in late July.