ILOILO City – Notwithstanding the legal mandate of the Local Government Code, the Iloilo City government has failed to decisively address the flooding problem as part of its obligation to deliver basic services, flood control, and disaster risk reduction measures.
From 2019 to 2024, the city spent ₱7 billion on infrastructure projects, but only 5.4 percent — or ₱378 million — was invested in drainage and flood control.
Former mayor Jerry Treñas highlighted these infrastructure accomplishments in a March 26, 2025 article titled “TANGIBLE LEGACY: Treñas admin builds over P7-billion worth of infra projects since 2019.” He claimed his administration had completed most of the projects, with the rest still in progress.
The article detailed the city’s annual infrastructure allocations: ₱530 million in 2019, ₱996 million in 2020, ₱2.5 billion in 2021, ₱1.2 billion in 2022, ₱915 million in 2023, and ₱885 million in 2024.
However, spending on drainage was comparatively small: ₱31 million in 2019, ₱34 million in 2020, ₱56 million in 2021, ₱136 million in 2022, ₱98 million in 2023, and ₱20 million in 2024.
Experts have long warned that Iloilo City’s geographic conditions demand stronger flood mitigation measures. The city sits below sea level, serves as a catch basin for central towns, and is prone to land subsidence.
The Local Government Code identifies drainage, flood control, and rainwater management as basic services that LGUs must provide. These fall under what experts call “flood governance” — a system involving rules, processes, communities, and multiple levels of government.
Despite this, the city government failed to act based on available plans. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) completed a feasibility study in 2017, the Metro Iloilo Urban Drainage Improvement and Related Works Project. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) also recommended the Iloilo Flood Control Project as a Phase I intervention.
In August 2024, the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute reported that Iloilo City is sinking at a rate of 9 millimeters per year.
The study was downplayed, with the figure dismissed as “the lowest” compared to other areas. The city government insisted there were no visible signs of subsidence in the city’s historic churches and buildings.
As district congressman from 2010 to 2019, Treñas also showed a scant record on flood control projects. DPWH data listed only one flood-related project in 2011, two each in 2015 and 2016, seven in 2017, and five in 2019. Three of the 2019 projects were revetment walls built in the Dungon area.
The issue resurfaced recently when Treñas and his daughter, Mayor Raisa Treñas, criticized the ongoing flood mitigation projects of Rep. Julienne Baronda.
The Treñases alleged that Baronda’s projects, funded under the 2024 and 2025 General Appropriations Act, were “ghost,” “missing,” and “palpak.”
Baronda had been their political ally until she was dropped before the 2025 elections, when Raisa was being prepared for the congressional seat — a plan later abandoned in favor of the mayoralty race.
DPWH data, however, contradict the allegations. Of the 21 flood projects funded, three have been completed while 18 are ongoing or temporarily suspended.
Mayor Treñas also reported to the Mayors for Good Governance this week that five projects were missing. Local media, however, were able to confirm their existence and ongoing implementation./PN
