The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) plans to spend P54.6 billion next year to reduce the effects of floods in Metro Manila and its surrounding areas.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson told members of the House Committee on Appropriations that this multi-billion peso budget will fund 1,135 projects involving the construction and maintenance of flood mitigation structures and drainage systems, and the construction and rehabilitation of flood mitigation structures along major river basins and principal rivers.

The government’s 15-year master plan for flood management costs a total of P351.71 billion.  The DPWH managed to implement 9,479 flood control and drainage projects from July 2010 to March 2015. These projects include dikes, revetment and river walls, waterways, drainage mains, and mini dams, Singson said.

He said the DPWH is using a holistic approach in addressing the flood problem in Metro Manila and surrounding places, which involves long-term solutions.

"This is the approach that we are doing, and it involves our major rivers nationwide. We need long-term solutions but our countrymen are a bit impatient and want  overnight solutions.  Unfortunately, this does not happen that way. The interventions both structural and non-structural take a few years to implement. But what is important is that we have a master plan that guides us in addressing our water resources," Singson said.

Singson made the statement in  defending his agency’s P391.17 billion budget for 2016 before the House appropriations panel.

The flood management master plan focuses on 19 major rivers nationwide, which cover more than 50 provinces.

"We have avoided the use of political boundaries in planning flood management. We felt the only way we can effectively plan is to use a river basin approach. So we adopted two key major policies in terms of our flood control program," said Singson.

The DPWH is working closely with the Department of Science and Technology through its Project Noah in implementing its flood management plan.

“Since Project Noah is now complete in all of the 19 major rivers in the country,  this means people can now determine how these river basins will behave because of the predicted amount of rainfall,” Singson said.

"The DOST has been able to install rain gauges and sensors so that if they can predict the strength of rain in the upstream, then they will be able to advise the communities on which of them will be flooded and how high their water levels will go. So that's already done, that's already available in communities so they can be given enough warning in terms of which communities will be flooded based on a projected rainfall," Singson added.