Jamaine Punzalan

Gutter-deep floods inundate parts of España Blvd in Manila on July 22,2025. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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HABAGAT FLOODING

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Addressing the perennial floods that hit Metro Manila needs &quot;nature-based solutions&quot; and science, the head of the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute (UPRI) said on Tuesday.</p><p>As vast swaths of Metro Manila were again submerged following heavy monsoon rains, UPRI Executive Director Mahar Lagmay said policymakers and planners needed to look beyond simply spending on infrastructure.</p><p>&quot;In fact, we&#x27;re spending a trillion pesos for flood control. But mostly these are structures that we built. They&#x27;re made of concrete. And we have to look at the problem in a different way,&quot; Lagmay said in an interview with ANC.</p><p>&quot;We have to look at other solutions like nature-based solutions, like making room for the river, recognizing that creeks need to be respected because they swell as well. We might need to put a bridge on top of these normally dry creeks and small streams that we just put a small type of drainage, maybe we have to increase their capacity,&quot; he added.</p><p>Lagmay recently posted on social media an explanation for why a section of Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City became flooded during Monday&#x27;s heavy rains. Using the online hazard map from <a href="https://noah.up.edu.ph/know-your-hazards" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Project NOAH</a> (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), he showed that the flooded road section used to be an area where water naturally flowed.</p><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmahar.lagmay%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02ZmdutFeunqHsLaMSWM3guTnWyUU1TdbKqcy5GVDmpW7EcbWVozaDZcQiqZjpwtRGl&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="250" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a change in the way we do things. We have to change the status quo. If we use science more to understand the problem, then we can find better solutions,&quot; Lagmay said. </p><p>The UP scientist said flooding was a complex problem that may take years to solve. </p><p>&quot;When we put cement or asphalt, build roads and make it into an urban jungle made of concrete. We also take down trees in the forest that reduces the capacity of the contents to absorb the water. And also we clog the drainage system. Those are aggravating factors that we do that complicate our lives or make things worse for us in terms of flooding,&quot; Lagmay said.</p><p>He noted that even in Japan, it took around 20 years before policymakers and planners appreciated the value of hazard maps, similar to Project NOAH. </p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a big problem. It&#x27;s a very difficult question to answer, by the way. But we all know that disasters happen because of unresolved problems of development,&quot; Lagmay said.</p><p>&quot;Now, to be able to avoid disasters, we should plan well. We should make use of the most advanced technologies, the frontier science, so that we will be able to plan well communities according to the vision of the people in the communities. That way, we can develop, get all of the infrastructure, get all the critical facilities out of harm&#x27;s way, subdivisions, settlements out of harm&#x27;s way, because all of these natural hazards are, based on the definition, based on the word itself, they&#x27;re all natural.&quot; </p><p>Project NOAH lets people see the natural hazards in their area such as floods, landslides and storm surges, as well as the evacuation centers nearby.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zsGgfnlgigE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span> </div>

<p>Addressing the perennial floods that hit Metro Manila needs "nature-based solutions" and science, the head of the UP Resilience Institute said on Tuesday.</p>

Addressing the perennial floods that hit Metro Manila needs "nature-based solutions" and science, the head of the UP Resilience Institute said on Tuesday.

Nature-based solutions needed to address flooding: resilience expert

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Nature-based solutions needed to address flooding: resilience expert

Arthur Fuentes,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 22, 2025 04:11 PM PHT

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