Iloilo City, Oton build joint river management model

ILOILO CITY – Iloilo City and the municipality of Oton are moving toward a joint management model for the Iloilo-Batiano River system, bringing local governments, researchers and communities together to address pollution, erosion, flooding risks and other problems that cross political boundaries.

Barangay officials, youth leaders, local environmental officers and academic researchers gathered Sept. 10-11, 2026, for a two-day river summit at San Antonio-San Nicolas Elementary School in Oton and the Sto. Domingo Multipurpose Hall in Arevalo.

Guided by the Local Government Code, the activity served as a convergence point for local government units, the academe and grassroots communities seeking to establish a joint framework for protecting the Iloilo-Batiano River system.

The initiative is significant because the connected waterways cut across Iloilo City and Oton, requiring neighboring local governments and communities to coordinate policies, infrastructure and environmental interventions rather than manage individual river sections in isolation.

Multi-sector co-management

The summit brought together 55 participants in a structured collaboration involving the Iloilo City Environment and Natural Resources Office, Oton Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office, University of the Philippines researchers and community representatives.

Pairing barangay officials with youth leaders was intended to build a bottom-up approach to environmental governance across local government boundaries.

Discussions and field exercises focused on four riparian communities: Barangays Sto. Domingo and Mohon in Iloilo City and Barangays Sta. Cruz and Sto. Niño Sur in Oton.

The collaboration illustrates how a highly urbanized city and a neighboring municipality can jointly address environmental problems affecting a shared river system.

The summit forms part of the third year of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies research on the Iloilo-Batiano River system, which is examining an appropriate collaborative framework for managing the river basin.

Earlier UP CIDS research identified challenges in barangay-level compliance with river-related policies and gaps in regular consultation between local governments and the private sector, underscoring the need for stronger coordination.

Two days of fieldwork and planning

The program combined historical context, localized environmental planning and field assessments to connect academic research with conditions and experiences documented by communities along the river.

After welcome remarks from local executive representatives, project leader Rhodella A. Ibabao introduced the project goals on the first day, which focused on history and fieldwork.

Rene C. Trance discussed the connected histories of the Iloilo and Batiano rivers and linked their historical development with contemporary environmental planning.

Project fellows Alan Dino Moscoso and Brian Ventura then discussed river regulations, inclusive public spaces and social justice concerns affecting riverside communities.

Research assistant Michelle Ann Loredo guided four multi-sectoral teams in conducting rapid environmental appraisals across four river segments, with dedicated facilitators assigned to each group.

The assessment sites covered Mohon and the Severino Haro Bridge on the Iloilo River and the San Antonio and Sta. Cruz bridges on the Batiano River.

On the second day, which focused on solutions and action plans, the teams presented findings on the ecological condition of the river and received feedback from facilitators on their field activities and worksheets.

Loredo also presented Asian case studies on integrating river heritage preservation with local tourism and economic activity.

Rather than relying only on regulations, participants worked on common approaches to zoning and stronger communication among neighboring barangays.

Three immediate priorities

The summit identified solid waste, rising water levels, riverbank erosion and drifting garbage among the interconnected problems requiring coordinated action.

Participants established community capacity building as one priority, including training residents and local personnel in environmental monitoring to promote long-term stewardship.

A second priority involves aligning policies and infrastructure between the two local governments.

One proposal calls for adapting Iloilo City’s established trash-trap designs for installation upstream in Oton, which would require the two LGUs to coordinate their waste ordinances and infrastructure budgets.

The third priority focuses on eco-cultural preservation, including proposals to display artifacts from the Batiano River in local museums as a step toward developing a future eco-cultural zone.

Both LGUs also identified the need for local ordinances regulating digging along the river to protect cultural materials that may be discovered.

The proposed measures would have to align with Republic Act No. 10066, or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, as amended by Republic Act No. 11961, which strengthened heritage protection through cultural mapping and enhanced cultural heritage education.

Riverbank management must also take into account the Water Code of the Philippines, which establishes zones along riverbanks and other waterways that are subject to easements for public use.

Institutional collaboration and support

The summit was co-organized by Iloilo City CENRO, led by environmental planner Janis Sy, and Oton MENRO, led by Menchie Gulanes.

Environmental office personnel from both LGUs coordinated activities on the ground with community representatives and academic teams.

Institutional support was provided by Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas, Oton Mayor Sofronio Fusin Jr., Barangay Captain Larry Lorenzo and Principal Aylen Artuz.

The summit and supporting study are funded by UP CIDS under the research project “Revitalizing an Urban River: The Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination in Improving the Governance of the Iloilo-Batiano River System, Year 3.”

The UP CIDS Urban Studies Program describes the third-year project as an effort to identify an appropriate collaborative management framework for the Iloilo-Batiano River Basin.

The project is implemented by the UP Visayas research team led by Ibabao, Ventura, Moscoso and Loredo, with team members Jeestin Kent Gabinera, Geraldine Camandillo and Maricar Gebucion.

The emerging co-management framework is intended to give participating LGU offices, researchers and communities a continuing mechanism to coordinate policies and actions for protecting a river system they share. (UPV Project Team)