President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced plans to build underground cisterns at 30 sites [1] in Metro Manila to reduce chronic flooding.
This infrastructure push represents a shift toward long-term engineering solutions for a region where seasonal monsoon rains and typhoons frequently paralyze transportation and commerce.
The government intends to construct these floodwater storage facilities to capture excess rain before it overwhelms the city's surface drainage systems. The project will utilize technical assistance from Dutch experts, who specialize in water management and land reclamation in low-lying areas [1].
Metro Manila has long struggled with perennial flooding that affects millions of residents. By implementing underground storage, the administration aims to mitigate the volume of runoff that enters the streets during peak storm events.
The initiative focuses on 30 identified locations [1] across the metropolitan area. These cisterns will act as temporary reservoirs, holding water during heavy downpours, and releasing it slowly into the drainage network once the storm subsides.
While the government has not yet released a full timeline for completion, the collaboration with the Netherlands signals a move toward integrating international water-management standards into Philippine urban planning [1].
“The government plans to build underground cisterns at 30 sites in Metro Manila to curb flooding.”
The adoption of Dutch water-management strategies suggests the Philippine government is moving away from reactive dredging and toward proactive subterranean infrastructure. If successful, these 30 cisterns could provide a scalable model for other flood-prone Southeast Asian megacities facing similar climate vulnerabilities.
