Author: user user

The rains brought by the habagat toward the tail end of August triggered flooding that affected millions of Filipinos. Among those affected were motorists on the North Luzon Expressway, who found themselves stranded for hours after flooding in San Simon, Pampanga spilled over onto a portion of the highway near Tulaoc Bridge.

In light of the flooding along NLEX during the habagat, the road operator provided motorists toll-free passage for several days when traveling between Pulilan, Bulacan and San Fernando, Pampanga, in both directions- with no claim forms or queues required. This followed President Marcos’ directive to provide relief to motorists affected by flooding near Tulaoc Bridge.

I must admit, the flooding that stalled a portion of NLEX was an unusual sight- a first for me, after years of traveling to and from Pampanga. While I was not among those stranded that day, I understood the frustration of the motorists who were. Expressways are designed to be resilient, engineered to withstand the elements, and trusted to enable uninterrupted travel- so when something like this happens, it is tempting to point fingers at the toll road operator. But it is worth understanding what actually happened first.

First, the water did not originate from the expressway itself. Two river channels run through the area, and one gave way, feeding into the other. The result was a sudden concentration of water. The water did not travel a channel to reach the road- it came across overland.

The geography of the area also matters. San Simon sits inside the Candaba floodplain, where local rivers are unlined and are therefore vulnerable to siltation, vegetation and structural encroachments. When the rains came, the floodplain reminded us of its nature.

NLEX has not been idle in addressing this. The section of the Tulaoc River that runs alongside the expressway has been dredged. As of Sept. 8, there was no water even on the shoulder. Sheet piles have also been installed to keep water out of the system and dredging continues upstream from Manila Bay toward the expressway. Barges were contributed by San Miguel, though upstream deployment was impossible during the flood because truck access was blocked.

The real challenge lies downstream. NLEX said it sent a survey boat to check the river along its section, but the boat could not even get through – heavy silt, thick clusters of water lilies, structures built mid-channel and houses had all but choked the water’s path to Manila Bay. The way I see it, the durable fix is dredging, paired with restoring the river’s capacity to hold and carry water the way it used to. That work is not NLEX’s to do, but to its credit, it said it is willing to help see it through.

With the scenes of flooding on NLEX dominating headlines, some have suggested raising the expressway further, which might seem like the pragmatic fix. I asked NLEX about this, and the company explained that engineering wisdom cautions against it, since raising the road again would push deeper water into San Simon, relocating the problem onto the town rather than addressing it.

It would also start a cycle: every raise of the roadway would require a matching raise of the overpass above it, and so on, indefinitely. The more sustainable option is a viaduct extension across the floodplain- a national infrastructure decision, not one a toll operator can make alone.

Finally, perspective is needed. On a normal week, this network handles one incident that backs traffic up about five kilometers, typically a truck accident. Response arrives within 45 minutes, cleared in about three hours. This event was different since no Class 1 lanes were passable across a roughly 10-kilometer stretch of the road on a rainy, holiday weekend. NLEX has admitted that keeping the road partly open was the wrong judgment and that the response was not adequate to the event.

The flooding on NLEX is a complex story that should not be viewed as the fault of one party alone. It is one that deals with the limits of infrastructure amid the worsening impact of climate change. Until we confront the uncomfortable reality that climate change is requiring all of us to adapt faster to its worsening impact, we will continue to see water where we least expect it.

At my age, I have watched this pattern repeat itself: a flood, then the blame game and finger-pointing, a few weeks of promises, then silence until the next rainy season. That cycle helps no one, and it will not keep the water out next time. What would help is treating the river system with the same urgency as the road – a serious commitment to a dredging schedule, a viaduct extension and a national government that sees it through.

I choose to believe we are capable of doing better and I look forward to the day when the rains come and go year in and year out – and all they leave behind is green fields and full rivers, nothing more.