THE DISPUTE between the Iloilo City Government and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) over the illegal reclamation of the Buntatala Creek is a defining moment — one that will test how far a local government unit can go in defending its people, its environment, and its right to demand accountability from a national agency whose actions have directly harmed the community.
Residents of barangays Camalig, Lanit, Balantang, Tagbak, and Buntatala endured a massive inundation last July. Now, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has laid bare its findings: portions of the creek were reclaimed by a DPWH project, narrowing the waterway and reducing its natural capacity to carry rainwater. The agency, which should have been protecting public safety, inadvertently became a contributor to the very disaster it sought to mitigate.
The city government’s call to “restore the creek” is a demand for rectification. City Legal Officer Joseph Edward Areño was unequivocal: DPWH must undo the damage. This includes widening the creek back to its original state and addressing the encroachments that aggravated flooding. The fact that the project proceeded without securing an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) only deepens the sense of institutional neglect.
In this light, the city’s firm stance is both commendable and necessary. Far too often, local governments are expected to quietly absorb the consequences of poorly planned or poorly coordinated national projects. But this administration is refusing to look the other way, insisting instead on adherence to environmental laws, local ordinances, and DPWH’s own guidelines requiring coordination with LGUs. It is asserting the city’s right to demand accountability — a right sometimes overlooked by agencies accustomed to operating with impunity. And when public outcry, technical evidence, and environmental law all point to the same conclusion, silence is not an option.
This is why Iloilo City’s fight is important—not just for Buntatala, but for every community that has ever been told to accept bureaucratic errors as an unfortunate cost of development. If DPWH can reclaim a waterway without an ECC and without proper coordination, what prevents similar incidents elsewhere? If a city cannot compel a national agency to correct its mistakes, what hope do smaller LGUs have?
Restoring the creek is the immediate task. Restoring public confidence, however, requires something more: decisive action, clear accountability, and a willingness to confront institutional failures head-on. DPWH must not only fix the damage — it must acknowledge it, learn from it, and ensure it never happens again.
For the city government, this is a moment to prove that Iloilo will defend itself, even if the challenge comes from an agency bigger and more powerful on paper. Political will is not measured by slogans but by the courage to confront wrongdoing — even when the wrongdoer is a fellow government institution.
