Malolos City's Bamboo Cribbing Hailed as Flood Control Model

MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan, Philippines — Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon lauded the nature-based solution that the Malolos city government implemented in Barangay Pamarawan to help solve the flooding problem. Dizon cited the city’s bamboo cribbing project – a nature-based engineering technique that uses interlocking bamboo frames filled with soil or rock to stabilize riverbanks, prevent soil erosion and mitigate floods – as a good example of flood control that actually works. He noted during a meeting with local government officials on Friday that the medium-term project can be replicated in the flood-prone Hagonoy town and applied in vulnerable areas such as in the neighboring communities of Macabebe, Masantol and Sasmuan towns in Pampanga. Malolos Mayor Christian Natividad said the nature-based solution was funded by the city government and first implemented in coastal barangays. Aside from bamboo cribbing, the officials discussed plans for dams, detention basins and water interceptors to help manage excess water in Bulacan. Dizon presented other flood management measures that include dredging and clearing waterways, installing modular barriers that can be stacked up to three meters high to close gaps in river walls, and deploying mobile pumps at damaged floodgates and pumping stations. Meanwhile, members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Ilocos and Kabataan Kontra Korapsyon Network staged a two-day protest against the recently passed Ordinance 640-2026 of La Union. The group said that the measure would open the province’s waterways to commercial dredging, quarrying and black sand mining, which they said could pose environmental and economic risks to local communities. The protest is set to continue today, with the demonstrators demanding accountability for chronic flooding, economic hardships and corruption in government. Bayan-Ilocos alleged that despite previous protests, communities continue to suffer from inadequate flood-control measures, as it accused government officials of misusing public funds.