PBBM: Enforce no-build zones

This file photo taken and released on August 24, 2026 shows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon during their aerial inspection over Pampanga to assess infrastructure damage attributed to the effects of widespread flooding due to ‘habagat.’ (Courtesy: Bongbong Marcos / PCO)

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directed all local government units to strictly enforce no-build zones in disaster-prone areas to protect communities from flooding after the enhanced southwest monsoon (habagat) brought heavy rains across the country, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Mr. Marcos wants local officials to enforce restrictions on settlements in danger-prone areas, clear waterways of obstructions, and ensure garbage is properly collected and disposed of, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said

“According to the President, existing laws, including the ‘no-build zone,’ must be enforced. Let’s stop politicizing disasters,” Castro said.

Castro said the President noted that Metro Manila and Cebu had master plans dating back to 1941 and 1936, respectively, that were not fully implemented.

Had these plans been followed, she said, some areas now occupied by infrastructure could have remained open spaces that could absorb excess rainwater.

Castro said Mr. Marcos wants local governments to take responsibility for enforcing the rules rather than allowing violations to persist.

She identified barangay officials, local government engineering departments and mayors as among those who should ensure compliance.

Castro said the government recognizes that enforcing no-build zones could displace families who have lived in restricted areas for years.

However, authorities should not allow residents to remain in locations where their lives could be at risk, she said.

“We need to unite behind this. We need to enforce the law and provide them (affected residents) with places where they can live safely,” Castro said.

“Lives could be lost. This is not a restriction without reason,” she added.

As this developed, the President also directed government agencies to fully implement policies on climate change, noting that its effects were no longer an abstract issue but a growing reality for Filipinos.

“It is no longer just a subject in science that we discuss because it is already here, it is already a reality,” Castro said.

Climate Change Commission Commissioner Albert Dela Cruz earlier lamented that some government agencies fail to heed the agency’s policies and recommendations even if the President serves as its chairman.

Castro said such a situation would no longer be allowed under the Marcos administration.

“The issue of climate change will be given attention,” she said.

She said the President wanted Filipinos to understand that climate change could bring consequences beyond the intense rains and flooding recently experienced in several parts of the country.

“This is not the only thing that can happen because climate change is already happening. We must prepare for it, and all policies and laws must be implemented,” Castro said.

“For now, we will not say who should be blamed—we need to solve the problem,” she added.

A map of the Central Luzon-Pampanga River floodway project around the Pampanga River Basin is shown during a situation briefing with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other government officials in Bacolor, Pampanga on August 24, 2026. (Courtesy: Bongbong Marcos / PCO) 

For his part, Mahar Lagmay, executive director of the UP Resilience Institute and head of Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), said the widespread flooding in Metro Manila and other parts of the country was partly the result of decades of failure to implement the 1941 master plan.

He said flooding could worsen unless the country adopts and implements science-based, long-term solutions.

“Our problem today is the accumulation of decades because the master plan was drafted in 1941. This is not different from the master plan of Cebu, which was the development plan of 1939 but it was not followed. The master plan would have been good, if we had followed that,” Lagmay said in a radio interview.

He said flood management should go beyond building dikes and instead use multiple measures based on scientific assessments.

“It’s all too late, the plan is to propose solutions other than just dikes, so not just one but many. Let’s not call it flood control, but flood management instead,” Lagmay said.

Lagmay said the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority are now consulting Project NOAH before undertaking flood-related projects.

He said Project NOAH provides high-resolution simulations that allow agencies to assess the effectiveness of proposed projects before spending public funds.

Lagmay said the government is using high-resolution simulations to assess proposed flood-control projects, with the DPWH and MMDA providing designs for computer modeling.

This allows authorities to determine in advance how much a project could reduce flood levels, which areas would remain vulnerable, and whether the proposed investment would be effective before funds are spent, he added.

He, however, acknowledged that there is no immediate solution to the country’s flooding problem, particularly as Metro Manila’s population continues to grow.

“This has been going on for a long time. I said 1941, that’s a few decades. We’ve been neglecting it for more than half a century, let’s not expect a magic bullet that will solve it immediately, it won’t happen tomorrow,” Lagmay said.

“But it’s important to start this so that it doesn’t get worse,” he added. — Charles Dantes & Jimbo Gulle