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Ranier Allan Ronda - The Philippine Star
December 25, 2025 | 12:00am
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon recently met with UP NOAH executive director Mahar Lagmay at the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office in Malolos.
Businessworld / DPWH
MANILA, Philippines — To address persistent flooding in Bulacan province, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is considering science-based and low-cost solutions and recommendations from the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute’s NOAH (National Operational Assessment of Hazards) Center.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon recently met with UP NOAH executive director Mahar Lagmay at the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office in Malolos.
During the meeting, Lagmay raised reservations about the proposed flood control projects presented by DPWH Undersecretary Lara Marisse Esquibil, including sabo dams, water catchment and detention basins, revetment structures and river dredging along the Pampanga and Angat rivers.
Lagmay stressed that flooding in Bulacan is compounded by land subsidence, particularly in coastal towns such as Bulakan, Paombong, Hagonoy and Meycauayan, all of which border Manila Bay.
Instead of the proposed flood control projects, the director suggested that the agency prioritize nature-based solutions, such as planting trees and removing dikes and revetments that restrict natural water flow and worsen flooding during heavy rains.
“[Do] projects that are publicly acceptable and more appealing. Instead of dikes and concrete, you have nature-based solutions, which are low-hanging fruit and can be done first, then you do the engineering interventions,” he said in Filipino.
Dizon welcomed the recommendations, acknowledging that large-scale engineering projects would take years to complete.
“That’s right. That’s what we should do,” he said. “All these engineering interventions are going to take years to do. We’re going to have to start somewhere. And planting a tree – planting thousands of trees – is the easiest thing to do, and the cheapest.”
Aside from adopting nature-based solutions, the DPWH also plans to seek guidance from the NOAH Center in dismantling other ill-advised flood control structures built in previous years.
These initiatives form part of the DPWH’s Oplan Kontra Baha program.
