Interface: Tackles concerns over poorly planned flood control projects

Name: Interface: Tackles concerns over poorly planned flood control projects
Uploaded: 2025-11-13T15:01:26+00:00
Duration: 14 min 19 s
Channel: PTVPhilippines

PTVPhilippines

3 hours ago

Interface: Tackles concerns over poorly planned flood control projects

For more news, visit:
►https://www.ptvnews.ph/

Subscribe to our DailyMotion Channel:
►http://www.dailymotion.com/peoples-television-incorporated

Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
►http://www.youtube.com/ptvphilippines

Like our Facebook pages:
►PTV: http://facebook.com/PTVph
►Rise and Shine Pilipinas: https://www.facebook.com/riseandshinepilipinas

Follow us on Twitter:
►http://twitter.com/PTVph

Follow us on Instagram:
►https://www.instagram.com/ptvph

Watch our livestream on:
►http://ptvnews.ph/livestream/
►https://www.dailymotion.com/PTVPhilippines

Watch our News Programs, every Mondays to Fridays

Rise and Shine Pilipinas - 6:00 - 7:00 am | 7:30 - 8:00 am
Balitang Pambansa - 7:00 - 7:30 am | 12:00 - 12:30 pm |
6:00 - 6:30pm | 9:30 - 10:00 pm
PTV Sports - 8:00 - 9:00 am
Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon - 12:30 - 1:00 pm
Sentro Balita - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Ulat Bayan - 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm
PTV News Tonight - 10:00 pm - 10:30 pm

Saturday & Sunday:
►Sentro Balita Weekend - 1:30 - 2:00 pm
►Ulat Bayan Weekend - 6:15 pm - 7:00 pm

Category

🗞

News

Transcript

Display full video transcript

00:00Concerns have been raised about poorly planned flood control projects that may unintentionally exacerbate flooding in some regions.

00:07These projects can disrupt natural waterways, altering the flow of water and increasing flood risks downstream.

00:14For example, certain flood protection measures such as river dikes that straighten watercourses can speed up water flow, pushing flood issues to neighboring areas.

00:23In other cases, flood prevention efforts in one location have simply shifted the flood risk to another due to poor coordination and planning.

00:32Experts stress that addressing these poorly designed projects is vital, as their environmental impact could prove more harmful than other concerns, such ineffective or unfinished projects.

00:42And with us tonight to walk us through the issues of flood control, environmental planning and other pressing topics, we have with us tonight Paolo Alcazarin, landscape architect and environmental planner.

00:56Welcome to the show, Paolo. Thank you so much for joining us on Interface.

00:59Yes.

01:00Okay, we are so excited to have you walk us through your thoughts today.

01:05You know, we have seen a lot of your input, especially on social media.

01:10And of course, you have made the rounds in the different TV shows, and now it's our turn.

01:14We're very blessed to have you here, even though it's pretty late.

01:18So let's get right down to it.

01:20You know, the country has endured massive flooding.

01:23We have inundation of property, lives lost, people's livelihoods and environment turned upside down.

01:31Cities and towns are still trying to get back on their feet, seemingly irreparably damaged.

01:38So beyond the obvious rampant corruption, can you walk us through the technicalities of why this has all happened to begin with?

01:48It's happened over the last few decades, and it's because mainly of deforestation.

01:54Deforestation, it's urban development that's uncontrolled and poorly planned.

02:02It's lack of coordination amongst government agencies, both local and national.

02:08And this has all come together to present us with all of these disasters.

02:14Okay, you actually posted a picture on your social media site not too long ago about why cities endure repeated flooding.

02:23Can we flash that on the screen just so the audience can see it?

02:27So just to give everyone a briefer about that, you have a picture.

02:33Can you tell us about it?

02:35Well, Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands, and these islands all have uplands or hills and mountains.

02:42And rainwater falls, stormwater falls in the watersheds in the uplands and flows down.

02:49Because we have deforested the uplands, there's nothing to absorb all of the stormwater and it all flows down very quickly into our rivers,

03:00which are already compromised.

03:02A lot of the compromise is because of DPWH's projects that haven't been based on comprehensive master plans for stormwater management or flood control.

03:14Okay, so diving deeper per location, the usual catch basins in Metro Manila remain to be, I've seen to be Marikina.

03:22Now, Quezon City seems to be catching up.

03:24And Manila and other cities do not seem to be far behind.

03:27Let's start with the metro and then Cebu.

03:30What are wrong with these pictures?

03:33You mentioned earlier that majority of it is also caused by massive deforestation and the lack of urban planning.

03:43Can you walk us through that?

03:45Well, the big problem is also because of the fractured nature of governance.

03:50There's 17, 16 cities and one town in Metro Manila.

03:56The five cities in Metro Cebu, I forget how many in Metro Davao.

04:03And these are just some of the LGUs within the river basins or the river systems.

04:11So it's the river systems that we have to look at and not the individual LGUs, provinces or even our political regions.

04:20Our fate is determined by our 18 major river systems and the basins and watersheds that feed into these rivers that then lead to all of the floods.

04:35That come down to most of our towns and cities, which are at the bottom of the slopes.

04:40Most of our towns and cities were established at the edges of our islands, at the bottom of the slopes or at the bottom of the various 18 major river systems.

04:51Because we didn't have highways before the 20th century and most of our transport was through the rivers.

04:59That's why our settlements are there.

05:01So we live by the fate of where we establish these settlements.

05:07And in the 20th century, when urbanization has spread and there's much less natural ground and vegetation to absorb what used to be absorbed during a downpour, then everything floods.

05:20Right. Do you think this is precisely what's happening now, not just in the urban areas, but also what happened in Cebu, where there have been claims that 98% of the forest cover has now been diminished?

05:34Yes. Overall, we've lost 80% in the entire country and, of course, in a specific area.

05:4080% of forest cover has more or less been lost in the country.

05:44We're left with 20%, more or less, in the last 50 years mostly.

05:50And so we are suffering that fate because of choices that we've, things that we've let happen is clear-cutting and illegal logging.

06:01And then we have not reforested our uplands.

06:04Well, look, I know that you have consulted and worked with different LGUs and your projects and proposals have been taken into consideration.

06:13But in all honesty, let's be frank, how many of your plans have been fully and properly implemented?

06:18Well, most of us planners or landscape architects are happy if 30% or 40% of what we propose is implemented.

06:25And the 50% or 60% we know is lost to corruption or inefficiencies, lack of coordination.

06:34So it's always best effort on the part of consultants such as ours.

06:38And by the way, even the bidding for consultancy work is often rigged.

06:44It's often rigged.

06:45Everything is rigged.

06:46Everything is rigged.

06:47It's systemic in the system.

06:50And we just try to do public work because we want to do public good.

06:55But most of our work is in the private sector.

06:57Right.

06:58And a lot of my associates in the professions don't want to touch government work because of all the corruption.

07:07And might we assume that the private consultation projects that you do more or less implement majority or your proposals to a T versus government?

07:18Well, these are private development companies.

07:22And we don't, things don't happen in isolation anymore.

07:27A lot of the private development projects are hundreds of hectares.

07:30But they have to work in the context of the larger cities or towns and regions.

07:37Okay.

07:37So what's happening now is that if we don't correct the larger context for these projects, everything will not work either.

07:46No matter how much you pour into private development, the flooding still occurs in the surrounding areas.

07:54It will affect you.

07:55And sometimes these private developments, not the ones that we're involved in, are the ones also that contribute to the problem.

08:02Right.

08:02So we have to address it now both from the private sector as well as the public sector because everything we do now affects our faith.

08:12Okay.

08:14I would like to talk to you about one of the most expensive, I would say, projects that the government right now is touting, the subway project.

08:23How are the recent floodings going to impact this project?

08:27It won't.

08:28I mean, the technology for subway systems is already very good.

08:32And the water won't get in.

08:35There are ways to prevent that, of course.

08:37The subway is not a concern.

08:39Okay.

08:40So right now, Paolo, you're saying that with the current technology that we have that would build a subway, the floods won't be a problem and won't endanger that current mode of transportation?

08:52No.

08:53Okay.

08:53The problem is once you step out of the subway, much like the LRT-MRT system, once you step out of the terminals, you get run over by cars because there are no sidewalks.

09:05Okay.

09:05So what we have to do is fully integrate the subway system with all of the other modes of transport, including pedestrians and bicycles.

09:15What we lack in our transport system, and it's sad that Secretary Vince left the DOTR, but of course now he's in the DPWH.

09:27But hopefully the DOTR now will address all of the deficiencies of the lack of integration of our various modes of transport because you start and end all of your commutes by walking, and then you get into a vehicle, and then you get out and you walk again.

09:43So we have not addressed a comprehensive way of bringing people from where they live to where they have to work and where they have to play.

09:55And also, it's also, I think, about building people-oriented cities instead of building them for cars and other vehicles that would initially clog up the roads and passageways.

10:06Okay.

10:09You have, we have talked about the importance of environmental planning, and sadly, this has not been employed comprehensively and collaboratively with government.

10:18As you mentioned, 30 to 40 percent, and that's, you know, thinking positively, hopefully would get implemented.

10:25Will the move to provide more trees, green walls, or maybe green facades have any significant improvement right now in the current flooding situation?

10:34Yes, yes and no.

10:35I mean, we have to do it at all the scales of development from your personal home or residence to your neighborhood, to your town, to your city.

10:46But the reforestation of our uplands is something that national government has to address.

10:53It has to be national government.

10:55Our social contract with government is that we all pay taxes, and the government has to see to it that this money is used properly.

11:05And one of the proper things to do is reforest our hills and mountains.

11:11Yes, so we will mention it again to all our audience.

11:14The best flood control is...

11:15Reforestation.

11:17Reforestation.

11:18Yeah, but of course, we have to go back and relook the master plans for all the 18 major river systems, which happened during the administration where Babe Simpson was DPWA's head.

11:33But this is over a decade ago, but this is over a decade ago, and it has to be relook.

11:38The good thing is the president has stated that we will now use proper data gathering through NOAA.

11:46And all of this data can then be used by planners to do the drainage systems, again, master plans, which should be the basis for any and all projects of the DPWH.

12:01Okay.

12:02Very quickly, I'd just like to insert this in.

12:05We never have enough time talking to great minds like yourself.

12:07But you have created designs for disaster-resilient housing and infrastructure.

12:12I think it's important that we are able to insert this in for our viewers, depending on the zones that they are in.

12:18Please walk us through that.

12:20Well, yes, we work with a number of LGUs.

12:23Rainwater harvesting is one way to do it.

12:26We were involved with the reconstruction or redevelopment of Boracay after it was shut down.

12:33And one of the things we did was to introduce rainwater gardens to help absorb stormwater.

12:39Of course, in various projects, we are also putting in cisterns, much like what Babe Simpson did with the BGC project.

12:47For the Rizal Memorial Stadium, we have a proposal to build cisterns around the stadia because in the last two typhoons ago, it flooded.

12:59So cisterns in dense urban areas can be put in.

13:03We have to build detention ponds as we do for some of our private developers.

13:10But we do have to put detention ponds at various elevations going all the way up to the mountains.

13:15What is a detention ponds?

13:17When rain falls down on the hillsides and mountainsides, before it goes down to the rivers and then floods the cities and towns,

13:27we can stop it or detain it at various elevations going down.

13:31So you dam a little, you create a lake, and put detention ponds so the water is impounded at the upper levels first.

13:40So that then after the event, it's released slowly because the systems below that elevation were built 50 years ago, 60 years ago, 100 years ago.

13:53And so that gives time for all of this water to be properly released and therefore not overburden the systems or overflow.

14:01Okay, well, we have so many other topics to talk about, so we are looking for a part two.

14:08But thank you so much for your time tonight, Mr. Paolo Alcazaran.

14:12We are definitely looking to talk about more things with you that would impact our country.

14:17Thank you so much for your time today.

14:18Thank you so much for your time.