CONSTRUCTING flood control projects alone will not solve Cebu’s flooding problems unless deeper causes, such as deforestation and overdevelopment in upland areas, are addressed, an expert said.
William Granert, executive director of the Soil and Water Conservation Foundation Inc. (SWCFI), said during a news forum on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, that addressing flooding in watershed systems requires considerable time, with development possibly spanning up to 30 years.
“We’ve been talking about this for 30 years, about limestone management,” Granert said. “If you’re going to deal with watershed management, you’re talking about 20 to 30 years to establish a good program.”
A watershed, also called a drainage basin or catchment area, is a land area where rainwater and runoff flow into a common body of water such as a river, lake, or sea.
Granert said the political timeline complicates the implementation of watershed management systems because of the frequent changes in elected officials. He also questioned why it takes a natural disaster for government action to take place.
Cebu Province is composed mainly of karst landscape, commonly referred to as limestone, which makes up about 60 percent of the island. The geological composition makes the area vulnerable to hazards such as flooding, sinkholes, and landslides.
Granert said protecting the karst landscape is vital to ensuring proper irrigation and water flow. He added that local engineers lack training in karst engineering.
Karst engineering is a field that deals with the complexities of delicate geological formations. Granert said karst landscapes contain pores, meaning anything that happens on the surface eventually seeps underground.
He cited a case of poor karst engineering that caused a mountain cemetery to leak fluids from wooden caskets into the water system, contaminating the water source of nearby residents.
Granert added that building roads in forested areas greatly affects the watershed system, especially when developments involve resorts and other commercial establishments.
He said unresearched land development could worsen environmental risks instead of mitigating them. “Rather than fostering positive development, it may result in detrimental impacts,” he said.
SWCFI is a non-stock, non-profit corporation registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on March 8, 1988. Its main office is in Cebu City. (Bryce Ken Abellon, USJ-R intern)