ILOILO City – The failure of former Iloilo City’s Rep. Jerry Treñas to aggressively pursue long-term flood control measures despite the availability of two feasibility studies has left his successor, Rep. Julienne Baronda, to carry the burden of addressing the city’s worsening flooding problem.
During the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget briefing on Wednesday, it was revealed that despite the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) study and the 2017 DPWH Region 6 report titled “Metro Iloilo Urban Drainage Improvement and Related Works Project,” Treñas failed to push for the implementation of most of the recommended projects.
Baronda asked DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon: “Since Phase 1 of the JICA Project was completed in 2012, funded by JICA, how much support did the DPWH provide for Stage 2 from 2012 to 2019?”
Dizon replied: “Madam Chair, the answer is that no funds were allocated.”
Records show that only a handful of flood control projects were pursued. Of the recommendations in the DPWH-6 feasibility study, just seven projects were included in the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and only four in the 2019 GAA.
Lawmakers are expected to champion funding requirements for projects in their districts, whether through overseas development assistance like JICA or through the GAA.
Official records reveal that from 2011 to 2019, Treñas secured P658.3 million budget for flood control projects with P144 million or 22 percent concentrated along Dungon Creek.
In 2015, the Construction of a Revetment Wall at Dungon Creek was allotted P49 million. This was followed in 2018 by the Construction of a Revetment Wall at Dungon Creek 2, Section 1 (Barangay Dungon A, Jaro – Barangay Sta. Rosa, Mandurriao) with a budget of P45 million.
A year later, in 2019, the Construction of a Revetment Wall at Dungon Creek, Section 2 (Barangay Dungon A, Jaro – Barangay Sta. Rosa, Mandurriao) was funded with P50 million.
In a past interview, Mayor Raisa Treñas herself acknowledged that their residence in Dungon had suffered flooding.
When Baronda assumed office in mid-2019, she prioritized implementing the Iloilo City Comprehensive Drainage Plan. However, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed full-scale funding as resources were diverted to pandemic response.
“When I assumed office, I was made aware of the Iloilo City Comprehensive Drainage Plan. I championed its implementation because I know we are below sea level and we’re experiencing land subsidence. I asked then-DPWH Secretary Mark Villar for help, and he assured me, but the pandemic came. Substantial allocations came only in 2022 to 2025,” she told Panay News.
For 2024 and 2025 alone, P2 billion was allocated for 21 flood control projects under the Iloilo City District Engineering Office (ICDEO). Of these, three have been completed, while 18 remain ongoing or suspended due to informal settlers, mangroves, inaccessible sites, or conflicts with other projects such as a power barge.
“How can you say ongoing projects are failures when they are not yet completed? Even the city’s bank-funded markets, hospital, and parking building remain unfinished. Can we call these palpak? No. So why demonize flood control projects that are still in progress?” Baronda said.
Baronda also warned that Iloilo City’s geohazard map paints a grim future: “If left unaddressed, Iloilo City will be the next Venice – submerged in floodwaters, with people forced to move around by boat.”
She lamented that political rivals continue to undermine her work: “It’s unfair that those doing their jobs are attacked with accusations. When my opponents claimed I had ghost projects, they later found these projects existed. Then they said they were ineffective. But once completed, they will prove their worth.”
She further pointed out the hypocrisy of critics linking her projects to certain construction firms.
“They demonize me over projects by firms connected to the Discayas. But the BJMP District Jail which they are transferring from Ungka to Leganes was also awarded to a Discaya firm. Iloilo City is not like Bulacan. We have no ghost projects. These are ongoing projects – wait until completion before passing judgment,” she stressed./PN
