A newly created office under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been tasked to monitor the country’s flood control projects since the corruption scandal erupted.
During the DENR’s budget hearing yesterday, Undersecretary Carlos Primo David said the agency’s work in monitoring the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) flood control falls under the Water Resources Management Office.
The WRMO was created by President Marcos in 2023 to harmonize the government’s efforts in ensuring water sustainability.
‘Part of our work in the WRMO is to monitor the flood control projects of DPWH. This is the dashboard that we have created and our assessment of roughly around 4,000 flood control projects,’ David said.
The DENR uses satellite imagery in monitoring the flood control projects, especially those that have to do with water supply, he added.
The DENR-WRMO has also come up with its draft ‘National Flood Management Master Plan’ which focuses on mitigating floods with ‘nature-based’ infrastructure.
The DENR master plan has the following principles: watershed management by restoring forests and upland catchments to regulate runoff and reduce sedimentation; impounding storm water for irrigation, potable supply, hydropower and aquaculture; ‘green-grey infrastructure’ in downstream areas by combining engineered structures with natural systems like mangroves and wetlands to sustainably mitigate flood; preventing development in flood prone areas, and promoting ‘flood-compatible’ land uses in parks and agriculture.
DOH seeks additional funding
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) said it will ask for additional funds from the Department of Budget and Management to be able to continue its disaster response efforts.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said that much of their budget for quick response during emergencies has been used up as a result of successive calamities and disasters this year.?
‘When we started this year, I know we had about a billion (pesos), and because of the several incidents wherein we poured in our response efforts, I asked and after the Bogo (Cebu) earthquake, we were left with only 100 million pesos,’ Herbosa said in a recent briefing.
He said additional budget is necessary for the DOH to be able to do its part in disaster response.
PAO budget hearing postponed
Meanwhile, the Senate deferred deliberations on the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO)’s proposed budget for next year after its chief, Persida Acosta, failed to attend the Department of Justice’s budget hearing on Monday due to an official overseas trip.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, finance committee chair, said the chamber has long required agency heads to personally present their budgets before the Senate.
‘As a matter of procedure and tradition, we always require the head of office to present their budget. This has been the practice for many, many years in budget briefings,’ Gatchalian said.
The senator said the rule is ‘very strictly observed’ in the Senate and that the PAO’s budget hearing will be rescheduled once Acosta is available.