Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says the country has had a flood control master plan for decades, but was never carried out.
“We are only executing it now. We have had a master plan for decades but walang ginawa. Hanggang ngayon lang. Ngayon lang natin sinisimulan,” Marcos told reporters on Wednesday, Sept. 2, after inspecting the flood-damaged Aquino and Agana bridges in Tarlac.
[Translation: We already have a master plan. It simply was never carried out. We are only implementing it now. We have had a master plan for decades, but nothing was done. We are only beginning to act on it now.]
Which master plan
Government records show the national flood control blueprint has gathered dust for decades. What took place, instead, was a patchwork of plans through generations: for rivers and river basins, Metro Manila and other urban centers, along with individual projects that have crossed administrations.
Some were implemented. Others were revised as conditions changed. Some remain unfinished. And in 2026, the government is still updating master plans for the major river basins.
History shows that the country has a wealth of flood control plans, but execution was another thing.
Colonial-era plan
Efforts to control major rivers date back to the Commonwealth era.
In 1936, Commonwealth Act 67 provided funding for the maintenance, improvement and construction of river control works, including projects along the Pampanga, Agno, and Abra rivers.
The law earmarked ₱275,000 each for the Pampanga and Agno river control works, and even required part of the funding to be spent on nurseries and reforestation of their watersheds.
By 1940, the Commonwealth government spent millions of pesos for flood control.
In June 1941, Commonwealth Act 627 provided another ₱250,000 for flood control works along the Agno and Pampanga rivers.
A Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) technical report said a 1952 master plan for flood control along the Pasig-Marikina River, including Metro Manila drainage, was prepared following the devastating November 1943 flood. The plan proposed drainage measures for northern and southern Manila and flood control interventions for the Pasig and Marikina rivers.
Structural works envisioned under decades of planning would eventually include river walls and revetments along the Pasig River and the Manggahan Floodway, which was completed in 1988 to divert floodwater from the Marikina River toward Laguna de Bay.
The history already showed a pattern through generations: flood control plans could take decades to translate into major infrastructure.
1990 blueprint
From 1988 to 1990, the Department of Public Works and Highways, with technical assistance from Japan, undertook another study on flood control and drainage in Metro Manila.
The resulting 1990 master plan covered flood control for major rivers and drainage improvements in several inland areas of Metro Manila and its surroundings.
For the Pasig-Marikina system, the plan proposed a combination of river improvements, upstream water storage, and structures to manage the movement of floodwater toward Laguna de Bay.
JICA has since described the 1990 Pasig-Marikina master plan as the basis for flood control efforts in the country. Its central concept was to attack flooding at different points in the river system: store water upstream, divert floodwater toward Laguna de Bay in the middle reaches and improve downstream river channel capacity.
Arroyo orders a national master plan
A much more explicit attempt to connect flood control efforts nationally came under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
On March 15, 2006, Arroyo issued Executive Order 510 creating the River Basin Control Office under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The order said existing and planned river basin projects needed to be rationalized into a master plan for flood control.
It also acknowledged that communities outside major river basins remained vulnerable to floods and landslides and therefore needed to be included in the country’s flood control planning.
Most significantly, the order directed the River Basin Control Office, together with the DPWH and the National Disaster Coordinating Council, to “develop a national master plan for flood control” by integrating existing river basin projects and developing additional components where needed.
Arroyo also authorized an initial ₱500 million for planning, implementation and management of river basin projects.
In 2009, another Arroyo executive order designated the River Basin Control Office as the lead agency for integrated planning, management, rehabilitation and development of river basins.
The policy direction increasingly emphasized integrating programs within river catchments rather than imposing exactly the same engineering solution nationwide.
‘Ondoy’ and Metro Manila’s vulnerability
Then came Tropical Storm Ondoy in September 2009.
The catastrophic flooding inundated large parts of Metro Manila and neighboring provinces, exposing weaknesses in drainage systems, waterways and flood control infrastructure.
The disaster prompted another major planning effort.
Under President Benigno Aquino III, the government, with support from the World Bank, formulated the Flood Management Master Plan for Metro Manila and Surrounding Areas.
The NEDA Board approved it in 2012, according to the World Bank. It proposed measures to reduce flooding from rivers running through the metropolis, address long-term flooding around Laguna de Bay, improve urban drainage and modernize pumping stations.
It also called for better flood forecasting, early warning systems, community-based flood risk management and stronger institutional arrangements.
The World Bank documents put the estimated cost of implementing the entire plan at up to ₱352 billion over 20 to 25 years.
Aquino left office in 2016 with much of the master plan still to be carried out.
Duterte implements part of the Aquino era plan
Under President Rodrigo Duterte, the government secured major financing for the Metro Manila Flood Management Project, which formed part of the 2012 master plan.
In 2017, the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank each approved around $207.6 million for the project, while the Philippine government committed about $84.8 million.
Total project cost: roughly $500 million.
The loan agreements were signed in December 2017, with the Duterte administration targeting the beginning of implementation in January 2018.
The first phase included rehabilitating 36 existing pumping stations and constructing 20 new pumping stations in Manila, Pasay, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Caloocan, Valenzuela and Quezon City.
It also involved improvements to drainage waterways and solid waste management in areas served by the pumping stations.
The project covered about 56 potentially critical drainage areas encompassing roughly 11,100 hectares and nearly a million people.
Marcos inherits old plans and new risks
When Marcos assumed office in 2022, he inherited not one flood control blueprint but layers of plans, studies, ongoing infrastructure and unfinished projects.
Some master plans were already decades old.
Palace press officer Claire Castro said the government could no longer simply rely on decades-old plans without updating them.
“Mayroon pong plan na isinasagawa at ina-update kasi sa ngayon po baka hindi na natin magamit ang mga masterplan ng 1940s and 1930s, so ina-update po iyan,” Castro said.
[Translation: There are plans being implemented and updated because master plans dating back to the 1930s and 1940s may no longer be suitable for present conditions, so these are being revised.]
Castro said DPWH was updating flood control master plans for the 18 major river basins and other critical principal rivers.
As of May 31, 2026, she said master plans and feasibility studies had been updated for 16 major river basins.
Updates for the Cagayan and Pasig-Marikina-Laguna Bay river basins were targeted for completion by the end of 2026.
So where is the national master plan?
That question reached Congress even before Marcos’ statement in Tarlac.
During the DPWH budget hearing on Aug. 26, Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno asked Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon about the status of a national comprehensive flood control and drainage plan.
“Last year po napag-usapan natin iyong isang national comprehensive flood control and drainage plan that should cover the entire nation,” Diokno said.
[Translation: Last year, we discussed a national comprehensive flood control and drainage plan that should cover the entire country.]
Diokno then asked Dizon to confirm whether the country still did not have such a national plan.
“Wala po talagang consolidated national plan but it has been done on a per river basin basis,” Dizon replied.
[Translation: There really is no consolidated national plan, but planning has been done on a per-river-basin basis.]
Dizon said the strategy followed for years has been to formulate master plans for major river basins, citing areas such as Cagayan Valley, Pampanga, Bicol and other parts of the country.
The DPWH chief said international partners and technical experts have recommended addressing flooding by major river basin and urban centers because the appropriate interventions vary depending on geography.
“Wala po talagang national flood mitigation master plan,” Dizon said.
[Translation: There really is no national flood mitigation master plan]
But Dizon said there are principles that should guide flood control nationwide.
Diokno questioned whether those common principles should themselves be placed into a national plan.
Without one, he said, the country risks pursuing flood control projects without a sufficiently comprehensive long-term framework.
In search of accountability
The Palace says Marcos does not want to simply blame his predecessors.
“Sa ngayon po, ayaw ng pangulo sa ngayon na ituro ang ibang mga namumuno sa mga nakaraang administrasyon. Ang tutok po ng Pangulo ngayon ay ayusin, ayusin ang lahat ng maaaring ma-fix, ma-repair, magawang mga proyekto para mas mabilis na magkaroon ng solusyon sa pagbaha,” Castro said.
[Translation: For now, the president does not want to point fingers at leaders of previous administrations. His focus is on fixing what can be repaired and carrying out projects that can provide faster solutions to flooding.]
Castro said evidence of ghost or anomalous projects should still lead to accountability.
“Kung mayroon po talagang nakitang mga ebidensiya, kailangan po talaga itong managot,” she said.
[Translation: If evidence is indeed found, those responsible must be held accountable.]
