Amid the massive corruption in the anomalous flood control projects currently gripping the nation, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan pointed out that such big-ticket infrastructure projects must also address the agricultural sector’s long-standing irrigation challenges.
The senator underscored the need to invest in water management systems—particularly water impoundments—to harvest the more than 160 billion cubic liters of rainfall the Philippines receives every year.
“We need to invest in water impoundment. We have so much rainfall. And that’s where the flood control projects should go because you want to prevent flood,” he said during a recent Harvard Kennedy School alumni meeting.
The senator cited the recurring struggles of Filipino farmers who face unpredictable weather patterns and insufficient irrigation support, noting that improved water resource management could significantly boost agricultural productivity and rural incomes.
Recalling his stint as chairman of the board of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) when he was the Aquino administration’s food security czar, Pangilinan explained that “water is really just about either you delay it, you divert it, or you hasten it.”
“Effective water management is really just about delaying the flow, hastening it or diverting it and building the needed infrastructure to achieve it,” the senator said, adding that this includes flood control, irrigation, and potable water supply systems.
He also cited the six-story water impoundment system in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) as a “classic example.”
Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, maintained that the P350 billion budgeted this year for flood control projects might be more than what the country needs to build water impoundment systems for its 19 river systems.
“So, the 350 over maybe five years, four years—maybe even less—maybe not years, but less amounts… (It can) address the need for diversion, damming, and impoundment, and we’ll also solve our flood problems,” he said.