WHEN the rains pour and the streets of Iloilo City flood, the city’s collective frustration is often directed at clogged canals, poorly designed drainage, or delayed government response. But the deeper issue lies in the foundation of planning itself: for years, we have been navigating today’s challenges with yesterday’s data.
This is why Mayor Raisa Treñas’ decision to enlist hydrologic experts from the University of the Philippines–Diliman to craft updated flood models deserves all-out public support. This is a long-overdue pivot from reactive disaster response to proactive, science-driven urban planning. For the first time in decades, the city is investing in fresh data that will tell us where floods will strike, how deep the water can get, and how wide it may spread across vulnerable barangays.
The stakes are high. As City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office head Donna Magno admitted, developments have expanded tremendously while the old flood susceptibility studies no longer apply. That is not just a planning inconvenience — it is a public safety hazard. Without updated hydrologic data, every drainage project risks being misaligned with the realities of climate change, rapid urbanization, and altered rainfall patterns.
Year after year, Iloilo suffers economic losses, disrupted livelihoods, and health hazards due to flooding. These recurring damages amplify the push for science-based modeling / evidence-driven planning.
But this initiative should not stop with the study’s completion. The findings must serve as the backbone of a comprehensive, climate-resilient drainage master plan. More importantly, it must set the precedent that no infrastructure project in Iloilo City — or anywhere in the country — should proceed without sound scientific basis. Concrete, steel, and asphalt cannot stand firm against the forces of nature if they are not guided by data.
Iloilo City’s move offers a template for other flood-prone cities. If local governments nationwide embraced the principle that evidence, not expedience, should drive planning, then perhaps we could turn the tide from costly reaction to genuine prevention.
Science is not an accessory to governance; it is its backbone. Iloilo City under Mayor Raisa Treñas is taking that lesson to heart. Let us hope this marks a new standard in how we build, prepare, and protect our communities.
