Bill for Metro Manila flood control plan moves forward at House

A woman rides a styro box through a flooded street in Manila on July 21, 2025, as the habagat brought heavy rains and flooding to different parts of the Philippines. Ted Aljibe, AFP

MANILA — The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a bill establishing a unified Metro Manila Flood Control and Drainage System Management Master Plan.

The bill, which was approved via viva voce, also seeks to institutionalize inter-agency and inter-local coordinations on the master plan, as well as provide for oversight and funding mechanisms.

If passed into law, the bill will order government department and agencies, PAGASA, UP research centers and the local governments of Metro Manila “jointly formulate, review, implement, and periodically update the Master Plan.”

The Master Plan is meant to “harmonize and integrate the flood control and drainage network system master plans of all Metro Manila LGUs to achieve a region-wide, integrated, data-driven flood management system, ensuring that the resolution of flooding in one locality does not aggravate or cause new flooding problems in another.”

The plan may refer to the 2012 National Economic and Development Authority foreign-assisted Flood Management Master Plan for Metro Manila, and “identify targets, reforms, and priority interventions to address the recurring flood problems in the National Capital Region.”

The House of Representatives also adopted House Resolution 1503, urging government departments to work with the UP National Hydraulics Research Center, UP Resilience Institute and Metro Manila’s mayors to implement an updated, comprehensive, science-based, region-wide, and integrated flood management and drainage system master plan for the National Capital Region.