Metro Manila (and other neighboring localities like Bulacan and Pampanga) is slowly drowning, not just in water, but in the consequences of decades-long neglect, greed, and systemic failure. The floods that now routinely swallow the streets are not mere acts of nature; they are the grotesque offspring of human apathy and institutional decay. Each deluge is a requiem for foresight, a flooded indictment of a city that has long turned its back on sustainable urban planning.
The recent report by The Philippine Star lays bare a truth that is as inconvenient as it is undeniable: Metro Manila’s flooding is getting worse, and the reasons are as man-made as the concrete jungles that choke its rivers. The metropolis, once envisioned as a beacon of progress, now resembles a cautionary tale: its drainage systems overwhelmed, its waterways strangled by garbage, and its people left to wade through the wreckage of poor governance.
At the core of this crisis lies a brutal irony: the very infrastructure meant to protect the city has become its Achilles’ heel. The antiquated drainage systems that was designed for a population half its current size is now buckled under the weight of unchecked urban sprawl. Concrete has replaced soil, skyscrapers have replaced trees, and in the name of development, nature has been evicted. The result? A city that cannot breathe, cannot drain, cannot cope.
But the tragedy does not end with engineering failure. It is compounded by a culture of impunity and short-termism (and shortsightedness). Illegal structures rise with impunity along riverbanks, informal settlements mushroom in flood-prone zones, and local officials turn a blind eye until the waters rise and the cameras roll. Then come the platitudes, the promises, the performative rescue operations. And then, silence. Until the next storm.
This is a clear, screaming cycle of neglect, apathy, and incompetence! But who cares?
What is most disturbing is not the water itself, but what it reveals: a society that has normalized suffering. Children trudging through waist-deep floods to get to school. Families losing everything in a single night of rain. Commuters stranded for hours, their lives paused by puddles that have become lakes. These are not anomalies; they are the new normal. And in this normalization lies the greatest danger: the erosion of outrage.
The science is clear. Climate change is intensifying rainfall, but it is poor planning that turns rain into ruin. Experts have long warned of the need for green infrastructure, for watershed rehabilitation, for urban designs that work with nature, not against it. Yet these warnings are drowned out by the din of political expediency and profit-driven development. The floods are not just a failure of engineering but a failure of imagination, of empathy, of leadership.
And so, the city sinks. Not all at once, but inch by inch, storm by storm. The esteros clog with plastic, the rivers rise with rage, and the people, resilient, resourceful, resigned, carry on. Just like that, but resilience is not a substitute for justice. It is not a badge of honor to survive what should have been prevented. It is a burden, unfairly borne by the poorest, the most vulnerable, the most forgotten.
There is still time to act, but the window is closing. The solutions are not mysteries: enforce zoning laws, invest in sustainable infrastructure, relocate vulnerable communities with dignity, and treat the environment not as an obstacle to progress but as its foundation. What is lacking is not knowledge, but will … GRIT! Not resources, but resolve.
To ignore this crisis is to accept a future where Metro Manila and its neighboring localities like Bulacan and Pampanga become unlivable, where every rainy season is a season of loss. It is to condemn millions to a life of perpetual displacement, to a cityscape where hope is as submerged as the streets after a storm. Should we just let that future come to pass?
Let this be the last time we call these floods “natural disasters.” Because THEY ARE NOT! They are man-made catastrophes, and they demand man-made solutions. The waters are rising, and with them, the call to conscience. Will we answer, or will we drown in our own indifference?