Why Iloilo City keeps flooding: mayor points to flood control projects
By Rjay Zuriaga Castor and Estrella Urquiola
Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu has again pointed to ongoing flood control projects as a major factor behind the widespread flooding that submerged several parts of Iloilo City last week following heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon, enhanced by Tropical Cyclone Kiyapo (international name: Noul).
At least 46 barangays across the city’s seven districts were inundated on Friday, July 24, with floodwaters reaching waist-deep in some areas.
The districts of Molo and La Paz were among the hardest hit, with 12 and nine flooded barangays, respectively.
The city government reported that the flooding displaced 73 families, or 221 individuals, from nine barangays.
La Paz recorded the highest number of evacuees with 45 families, followed by 21 families in Lapuz and seven families in Barangay Calubihan, Jaro.
On Monday, July 27, Treñas-Chu said flood control projects in Calubihan, La Paz, and Lapuz caused severe flooding in those areas.
“There is an ongoing flood control project in Calubihan. That is what caused the flooding there,” the mayor said.
“In La Paz to Lapuz, there is also an issue in the flood control project,” she added.
Treñas-Chu did not elaborate on the specific projects she was referring to.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has identified 72 barangays as high-risk flood zones this rainy season, based on the 2020 Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment study.
The identified barangays are home to an estimated 240,360 residents, based on the 2015 census.
Jaro has the highest number of flood-prone barangays at 38, including Calubihan, followed by La Paz with 13.
In July 2025, Treñas-Chu issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) suspending all ongoing Department of Public Works and Highways-Iloilo City District Engineering Office (DPWH-ICDEO) waterway projects.
The projects include those in the Buntatala Creek, Dungon Creek, Calubihan/Desamparados Creek, and the mouth of the Iloilo River in Mohon, which the mayor argued had altered the natural flow of water and worsened flooding.
“[These projects] altered the natural course of water flow, causing widespread destruction. These creeks are supposed to serve as catch basins, not concrete paths that block drainage,” the mayor said then.
The DPWH-ICDEO, however, maintained that the mayor’s suspension order had no legal basis.
Treñas-Chu later withdrew the CDO after meeting with then-DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, citing a supposed “condition [of a] promised review and technical assessment be undertaken as soon as possible.”
The local dispute sits within a wider national reckoning over flood control spending.
Bonoan resigned as public works secretary effective September 1, 2025, amid a government investigation into anomalous flood control projects nationwide.
He was later detained in 2026 on graft and plunder charges linked to the scandal.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has since ordered a full organizational sweep of the DPWH and created an independent commission to investigate the irregularities.
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