MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is moving to update flood management master plans across the country as part of efforts to strengthen long-term flood resilience.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said the initiative followed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to improve the country’s flood resilience, noting that changing climate conditions have rendered the plans outdated or incomplete.
“These master plans are important because they guide the engineering design of flood mitigation infrastructure,” according to the DPWH chief.
The DPWH is working with the University of the Philippines–Project Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (UP-NOAH), local government units and other government agencies to incorporate current hazard maps and scientific data.
The updated plans will serve as technical basis for determining and designing future flood management projects, with the approach taking into account individual river basins, urban areas and other flood-prone locations rather than relying on a single, outdated nationwide blueprint.
Dizon said the DPWH has also prioritized updating the flood control master plans for major river basins all over the country.
He revealed this early that out of 18 major river basins and other critical principal rivers, 16 of them have a
been updated, including their feasibility studies.
