By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — July 24, 2025
MEET Maria, a Tondo mother slogging through sewage to salvage her kids’ sodden schoolbooks. Her sin? Dropping a single plastic wrapper into a canal—because the nearest trash bin is a fantasy, and her barangay hasn’t seen a garbage truck since Marcos was a dictator.
Yet MMDA Chair Don Artes, perched in his dry office, delivers his yearly homily: “Undisciplined Filipinos” are flooding the city with trash. How profound—the MMDA’s epiphany that garbage clogs drains! Next, they’ll tell us rain is wet.
Welcome to Metro Manila’s flooding farce, where bureaucrats brandish blame like a blunt bolo, slashing at the poor while sidestepping their own epic incompetence. The MMDA’s playbook is as tired as their pumps:
- 71 stations “at full capacity” (though 70% are older than the internet)
- Canals choked with sofas and tires (as if slum dwellers toss furniture for sport)
- A drainage system so ancient it’s practically a heritage site
But fear not, citizens—Artes urges us to “join hands.” Translation: They’ll tweet motivational hashtags while Maria builds a lifeboat.
The Great Blame-Shifting Bonanza
The MMDA’s favorite pastime? Pinning floods on the poor. Artes wags his finger at “undisciplined Filipinos” like Maria, as if her stray sachet is the apocalypse. Meanwhile:
- 60% of barangays lack regular waste collection, forcing residents to dump or burn trash.
- Corporations like Nestlé and Jollibee flood markets with plastic sachets and straws built to outlast civilization.
- Local governments, busy approving floodplain malls for cronies, skip slum pickups.
But sure, it’s Maria’s fault for not trekking to Narnia with her garbage.
Then there’s the MMDA’s Oscar-worthy performance: “All pumps at full blast!” Except:
- Critical floodgates like Sunog Apog and Tangos-Tanza are still under repair.
- DPWH contractors miss deadlines like they’re auditioning for a slapstick comedy.
- The Tangos-Tanza gate, a 30-year-old fossil, was due for repair by July 8, then July 21—now it’s just “whenever.”
If MMDA’s pumps ran as sluggishly as DPWH’s work ethic, we’d be swimming in red tape.
This is Manila’s governance tragedy: frantic pressers masking chronic apathy. Their “Estero Blitz” cleanups—photo-ops with volunteers in logoed vests—last until the next rain washes the trash back.
Busting the MMDA’s Bogus Dichotomies
The MMDA peddles a lazy narrative: citizens versus government, as if the poor are gleefully chucking fridges into canals while bureaucrats cry. Reality?
- 380,000 informal settler families are crammed into floodplains by a city that prioritizes condos over housing.
- Politicians greenlight projects like MRT-7 and Skyway Stage 4, which bulldozed natural drainage paths and poured concrete into culverts.
- Commonwealth Avenue’s drains, now 75% blocked by MRT-7 posts, are a monument to this stupidity.
Blame Maria’s plastic bag, but give a free pass to contractors who turned drains into modern art.
Then there’s the “nature versus concrete” charade. The MMDA worships pumps and pipes while sneering at nature-based solutions like wetlands or green buffers—too “squishy” for their macho engineering vibes.
- Jakarta’s seawalls failed; Bangkok’s urban aquifers succeeded.
- Manila? Still betting on pipes that silt up faster than a senator’s promises.
The World Bank’s integrated flood management framework begs for wetlands and warning systems, but Manila’s stuck in a concrete fever dream.
The Human Cost: Pummeling the Powerless
Floods don’t just submerge homes; they drown dignity.
- Maria’s estero shack is swept away.
- Her kids miss school.
- Her sari-sari store’s stock is ruined.
Then Artes lectures her about discipline, as if she chose a flood zone for the view.
Metro Manila’s 380,000 informal settlers aren’t there by choice—they’re exiled by a city that builds for the elite.
Yet when waters rise, they’re the scapegoats, while Makati’s gated enclaves stay dry, their private pumps purring smugly.
España Boulevard is a lagoon; Forbes Park’s lanes are a desert.
Elite immunity, courtesy of a system that shields the rich and shames the poor.
“Solutions” That Sink Faster Than a Slum
The MMDA’s fixes are a tragicomedy:
- “Estero Blitz” cleans canals for a day, then the trash floats back like a bad sequel.
- “Join hands” mantra is as useful as a paper boat.
- DPWH’s repair delays are Kafka on steroids—Sunog Apog and Tangos-Tanza languish while contractors play hide-and-seek with deadlines.
The ₱281 million flood-control budget vanishes into a void, with zero transparency. Probably not to Maria’s barangay, where the last trash bin was looted in 2019.
Pointing Fingers at the Real Floodlords
Enough with the platitudes. The true culprits aren’t hard to spot:
- Corporations: Nestlé’s sachet empire and Jollibee’s plastic deluge clog canals more than Maria’s wrapper.
- Politicians: Mayors signing off on floodplain subdivisions, then gasping when they flood.
- Contractors: Skyway builders who turned drains into concrete sculptures.
Demand real accountability:
- Prosecute companies under RA 9003 for their waste, not scavengers scraping by.
- Publish a line-by-line breakdown of that ₱281 million budget—where’s it going, if not to pumps or canals?
- Relocate informal settlers with jobs and housing, not just bulldozers.
Bangkok’s aquifers and Lagos’ waste-picker cooperatives prove it’s possible when leaders stop blaming and start building.
A Call to Ditch the Deluge Drama
Manila’s floods aren’t divine wrath; they’re the wages of greed. The poor aren’t the problem—they’re the victims of a city rigged for the elite.
Stop preaching discipline to Maria and start hauling the real culprits to account.
Demand answers, or start carving bancas.
Key Citations
- Inquirer.net, 2025: MMDA: Flood-control works made ineffective by trash – News report detailing MMDA’s claims and infrastructure issues.
- Rappler, 2013: How do you solve the metro’s flood problem? – Analysis of waste management gaps in barangays.
- UNDP: Urban poverty and flooding in Metro Manila – Data on informal settlers and urban planning failures.
- World Bank: Bangkok flood risk management – Case study on successful nature-based flood solutions.
- World Bank: Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management (IUFRM): Lessons from Japan: – Framework for combining structural and non-structural flood measures.
- Official Gazette: Republic Act No. 9003 – Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
- Department of Budget and Management: 2024 National Expenditure Program – Details on MMDA’s flood-control budget.
- WIEGO: Waste pickers in Lagos – Model for waste-picker cooperatives.
- “Forthwith” to Farce: How the Senate is Killing Impeachment—And Why Enrile’s Right (Even If You Can’t Trust Him)
- “HINDI AKO NAG-RESIGN!”
- “I’m calling you from my new Globe SIM. Send load!”
- “Mahiya Naman Kayo!” Marcos’ Anti-Corruption Vow Faces a Flood of Doubt
- “Meow, I’m calling you from my new Globe SIM!”
- “PLUNDER IS OVERRATED”? TRY AGAIN — IT’S A CALCULATED KILL SHOT
- “Shimenet”: The Term That Broke the Internet and the Budget
- “We Did Not Yield”: Marcos’s Stand and the Soul of Filipino Sovereignty
- “We Gather Light to Scatter”: A Tribute to Edgardo Bautista Espiritu
- $150M for Kaufman to Spin a Sinking Narrative
- $2 Trillion by 2050? Manila’s Economic Fantasy Flimsier Than a Taho Cup
- $26 Short of Glory: The Philippines’ Economic Hunger Games Flop
KWEBA ni BAROK 
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