CITY OF MALOLOS: The Bulacan provincial board on Thursday placed the province under a state of calamity due to massive floods following weeks of relentless rains brought by the monsoon season.
The local governments of the coastal towns of Calumpit, Hagonoy and Bulakan, which were swamped by as high as 1.82 metres (6 feet) of floodwaters, earlier declared a state of calamity in their respective municipalities.
Manuel Lukban Jr., chief of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), told the Inquirer that 19 of 20 towns and four component cities of the province continue to be impacted by floods, while the mountainous town of Doña Remedios Trinidad had recorded landslide incidents due to the almost two weeks of continuous rains.
The PDRRMO reported that 960,821 residents from 275,000 families were directly affected by flooding, while damage to agriculture, including rice and vegetable production, fisheries, livestock and poultry, reached more than P130 million, per initial estimate.
High tide at Manila Bay reaching 1.49 metres (4.9 feet), flash floods from the mountainous areas of Bulacan and Rizal provinces, backflooding from Pampanga province and discharges by dams all conspired with the heavy volume of rains poured by Tropical Depressions “Luis” and “Maymay” and the monsoon.
Earlier, Gov. Daniel Fernando had worried that the provincial government’s regular resources would not be enough to bring help to people affected by the widespread flooding.
“This declaration aims to fast-track the response of the Provincial Government of Bulacan for the assistance needed [by] affected Bulakenyos, including the relief assistance, food and nonfood items, medical service and rehabilitation measures for affected communities,” the provincial government said in a statement.
The PDRRMO recently said that the provincial government spends up to P100 million annually to provide relief assistance to residents affected by calamities, which have become regular occurrences.
Lukban said that about 30 percent of their office’s annual budget goes to the Quick Response Fund, where P50 million is allocated for emergency food packs.
Meanwhile, a project first conceptualised in the 1970s by the late former Senate President Blas Ople, a resident of Hagonoy town, is being reviewed to solve flooding not only in Bulacan, but in other coastal areas in Central Luzon.
The Manila Bay Integrated Flood Control Coastal Defense and Expressway project seeks to erect a coastal barrier that will also function as a roadway traversing the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan. It was designed to “minimise the risk of flooding and enhance coastal resilience.”
The coastal defence roadway will stretch through the coastal towns of Obando, Bulakan, Hagonoy and Paombong, and the City of Malolos and on to Pampanga and Bataan provinces.
Last year, the Office of the Executive Secretary requested the Department of Economy, Planning and Development, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Public-Private Partnership Center to review the coastal defence and expressway proposal.
The Central Luzon Regional Development Council, in a resolution on Sept. 30, 2025, endorsed the conduct of the feasibility study, with the backing of the provincial development councils of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan.
High tide from Manila Bay, rising by over 1.52 metres (5 feet), has worsened flooding in Bulacan.
Residents of Hagonoy, where river systems discharge before emptying into Manila Bay, have lived with flooding for at least 30 years now. High tide ushers in bay waters into Hagonoy’s inner streets and alleys as well as residential communities, taking hours or even days before these recede.
Some residents have abandoned their homes and relocated to other towns to escape the floods.
Hagonoy has 42 flood control projects under the supervision of the DPWH from 2023 to 2025. Many remained unfinished and those completed used allegedly substandard materials, according to residents and local officials.
Fernando credited Ople for the original concept of a coastal defence roadway to protect Bulacan from floods.
“Floods of this scale had yet to happen then, but [Ople] foresaw the consequences of Manila Bay high tide during his time; that high tide level will be much higher in the years to come,” the governor said. - Inquirer/ANN
