Chiz Escudero: Increase MMDA funds for flood control

Amid a deluge of news of flooding in the National Capital Region (NCR), Senator Chiz Escudero said he wanted the national government to increase funding for flood control projects under the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Escudero, chair of the Senate committee on finance, said only P276 million had been allocated this year for flood control and sewerage management in a metropolis with the size of 63,000 hectares.

The amount is “clearly not enough,” the senator said of the funding given to the MMDA to manage flooding in the NCR, where about 4,750 hectares are flood prone.

“I am of the position that the national government’s subsidy to MMDA, insofar as flood control is concerned, should be increased,” he said.

“Hindi lang trabaho ng MMDA ‘yan, pero ng pambansang pamahalaan din,” he further said.

Escudero said he was seeking an update from the MMDA and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on the status of flood-control projects in Metro Manila and nationwide.

On the national level, the senator said the DPWH had a budget of P42.2 billion for flood management services this year, a bulk of which will be spent in Metro Manila.

Of its funds for flood control in 2015, about P1.26 billion has been allocated for its North Manila Engineering District; P680 million for its Las Pinas-Muntinlupa District Engineering Office; P1.37 billion for its two engineering districts in Quezon City; P460 million for its Malabon-Navotas district office; and P1.6 billion for its NCR First District Office.

“Gusto nating tanungin ang DPWH kung ilang porsyento na ng 1,295 projects nationwide para sa taong ito ang nasimulan, natapos na or drawing pa lang,” he said.

“Sabi ng DPWH sa kanilang performance targets para sa taong ito 100 percent of flood-control projects will be completed within contract time,” the senator said.

“Hindi ko sinasabing madali ang kanilang trabaho. Ang gusto natin ay madaliin nila ang kanilang mga ginagawa. At kung anuman ang kulang – sa pondo, kagamitan – malaman ng buong bayan, para masolusyonan ito,” he said.

The senator pointed out that under Secretary Rogelio Singson’s leadership, the DPWH has streamlined processes and pursued activities, which resulted in faster completion at lower cost.

“But the problem is he does not operate in a vacuum. Nandyan ang delay sa release ng pondo, merong coordination issues sa local governments, plus right-of-way problems, and let us remember that construction is weather-dependent,” he said.

Another challenge that the DPWH was facing, Escudero said, is hiring 1,300 civil engineers it needs.

Last year, he said, the DPWH underspent by P303 billion, or 13 percent of the appropriations for 2104.

Escudero said he also wants to find out from the MMDA whether it would be able to fulfill its promise to reduce the number of flood-prone areas in the metropolis by 10 percent this year.

“The MMDA has promised that it will work for a 10-percent reduction of flooded areas, or from 4,570 to 4,105 hectares for a rainfall intensity of less than 40 millimeters per hour and that floodwaters in areas under its jurisdiction will subside 40 minutes to one hour after a downpour measuring less than 40 millimeters per hour,” he said.

These “performance guarantees,” he said, were attached to the P2.19 billion subsidy the MMDA will receive from the national government, he said.