MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now studying long-term interventions for Bulacan, including a more comprehensive flood-control plan that would address the problem beyond individual projects.
“We need a comprehensive plan,” Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said on Monday, as the government moves to determine the structural and environmental factors behind the province’s recurring floods.
Dizon, along Cabinet Secretary Benhur Abalos, personally went into the flood-hit communities in Hagonoy and Paombong, Bulacan, as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a hands-on assessment of the province’s decades-old flooding problem.
The visit came amid renewed scrutiny of flood-control infrastructure in Bulacan, where communities continue to be inundated despite the construction of dikes, seawalls and other flood-control structures over the years.
Hagonoy is particularly vulnerable. The municipality is a low-lying, flat coastal area facing Manila Bay and is exposed not only to heavy rainfall but also to high tides, river flooding and backflow.
The provincial government’s own development and physical framework plan classifies Hagonoy, along with Calumpit and Paombong, as very high-risk areas for flooding. It identifies their low-lying terrain as a major reason water easily accumulates during heavy rains and tropical cyclones.
The problem is also bigger than rainfall alone. Hagonoy sits within the Pampanga River delta system and can receive so-called back-flooding as water from upstream areas in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija moves toward Manila Bay. Officials and experts have long identified the interaction of river flows, tides, coastal flooding and land subsidence as major challenges for the area.
The severe flooding that struck in August prompted a province-wide declaration of calamity in Bulacan, highlighting the alarming scale of the region’s water crisis. The disaster, fueled by the enhanced southwest monsoon and the passage of tropical cyclones Luis and Maymay, left coastal areas submerged. In Hagonoy, the situation turned critical as floodwaters surged up to 1.82 meters deep in some neighborhoods.
The flooding has also persisted for extended periods, forcing families to evacuate and disrupting livelihoods, transport, schools and businesses.
A Department of Social Welfare and Development assessment earlier this month said some 62,000 families in Hagonoy were severely affected by prolonged flooding, with the town serving as a catch basin for back-flooding from Pampanga and Nueva Ecija.
For residents, the problem is not new. Hagonoy has for years been identified as one of Bulacan’s most flood-prone communities, with households repeatedly forced to raise homes, roads and other structures as flood levels rise.
The province’s planning document estimates that more than 105,000 people in Hagonoy are exposed to flooding, reflecting the enormous population at risk in the municipality.
