Martinez, Castro, Bondoc: Flood control won’t work without decongestion, curbing corruption

The billions worth of flood control projects won’t make a difference if Metro Manila is not decongested and corruption will persist, three candidates for the Eleksyon 2025 said.

Valenzuela Representative Eric Martinez, an independent candidate, said that flood control projects would hardly make a difference when Metro Manila has reached its “saturation point”.

“We have to look beyond Metro Manila, we have to look towards Bataan, Pampanga, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal. No amount of flood control programs you put in Metro Manila [will matter] if you’re not going to expand urbanization towards our neighboring provinces,” Martinez said during the Tanong ng Bayan: The GMA Senatorial Face-off 2025.

“That could be a good solution to the problem,” Martinez added.

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, for her part, said that the government should fund subsidies to the poor and stop reclamation projects that harm the environment.

“Kailangan singilin ang Marcos at Duterte administration sa laki ng pondo rito [sa flood control]. Taon-taon po, nararanasan natin ang malalakas na bagyo sa ating bansa at ang naapektuhan po nito ay ang mga mahihirap. Una na pong solusyon diyan ay bigyan ng karampatang kompensasyon ang ating mga mahihirap,” Castro said.

(We need to put the Marcos and Duterte administration to task given the huge budget for flood control. But yearly, it’s the poor who are affected the worst by these floods, and the first solution there is that the government should give compensation to the poor.)

“Pangalawa, ‘yung tinatawag nating pagpapatigil sa mga mapaminsalang proyekto na ginagawa tulad ng mining, ng logging at even itong reclamation na ito," Castro added.

(Secondly, the government should stop projects that destroy the environment such as mining, logging, and even reclamation projects.)

Lawyer Jimmy Bondoc, a former vice president of the Corporate Social Responsibility unit of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), said flooding happens amid the lack of infrastructure investment such as evacuation centers, which can be traced to corruption.

“Imprastraktura talaga ang kailangan, for long term para maibsan po ang pagdurusa ng ating mga kababayan. Pero paano po natin mararating ang mahuhusay na imprastraktura kung may korapsyon? Kailangan solusyunan ang korapsyon,” Bondoc said.

(We need a long-term infrastructure program to ease the burden of our people, but we cannot do that if there is corruption. We should address corruption.)

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. earlier removed P16.7 billion worth of flood control projects under the P6.326 trillion national budget for 2025. —LDF, GMA Integrated News

For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.