AIIB Commits $200M for Metro Manila Flood Control

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has secured an initial $200-million funding commitment from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to help build five priority flood catchment projects under its flood management program. MMDA Chairman Romando “Don” S. Artes said the priority sites are Camp Aguinaldo, Miriam College, Remedios Circle, Rajah Sulayman Park and the University of the Philippines Sunken Garden, with completion targeted by June 2027. “The AIIB has committed $200 million,” Mr. Artes told reporters at a Palace briefing on Wednesday. The funding commitment followed a three-year feasibility study funded by the AIIB and conducted by Dutch engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV. The study narrowed 107 candidate sites to 39 locations across Metro Manila. Mr. Artes said the projects would apply “sponge city” and nature-based flood management concepts that store and absorb rainwater rather than simply channel it away. “With the advent of climate change and extreme weather conditions, heavy downpours should no longer be controlled or fought; they should be managed,” he said in Filipino. The proposed interventions include underground water-storage tanks, permeable sidewalks and open spaces designed to serve as temporary water-retention areas during heavy rainfall and public parks during dry periods. Mr. Artes said the MMDA would meet this week with Executive Secretary Ralph G. Recto and Budget Secretary Kim Robert C. de Leon to determine which projects could be funded this year. The agency will then coordinate with the Department of Finance and the Department of Economy, Planning and Development before submitting proposals to the National Economic and Development Authority Investment Coordination Committee. He said the 39-site program would extend beyond the term of the Marcos administration. “Definitely, this will spill over to the next administration because we cannot possibly finish all of them,” he said. Mr. Artes said Camp Aguinaldo was prioritized because it sits within a 168-hectare watershed area where runoff converges before draining into Makiling Creek. A proposed 5,000-square-meter, 10-meter-deep catchment facility there could store about 50,000 cubic meters of rainwater. He said the projects are expected to lessen flooding in areas such as Taft Avenue and Roxas Boulevard but stopped short of promising a flood-free Metro Manila. “We cannot guarantee a flood-free Metro Manila,” Mr. Artes said. “What we can assure is that these projects will be efficient in mitigating the flooding.” Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the combined effects of Tropical Cyclones Luis, Maymay and Neneng and the southwest monsoon had left 39 people dead, 20 injured and three missing as of Wednesday. About 9.4 million people from 2.7 million families have been affected. The agency reported P6.27 billion in infrastructure damage and P2.84 billion in agricultural losses, while assistance provided to affected communities has reached P1.85 billion. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking