CEBU CITY, Cebu, January 24 (PIA) -- To address the flooding issues in Metro Cebu, the Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) of the Central Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) convened the technical working group for the implementation of the Metro Cebu Flood Control and Drainage System Master Plan on January 18, 2024.

“Basically, the work of this technical group is to organize this flood control master plan according to short-term, medium-term, and long-term and to indicate the urgency,” said ICD Chair Kenneth Cobonpue, who also sits as the chairperson of the technical working group.

Short-term measures and interventions include the construction of retention and detention ponds, dredging, and declogging and desilting of rivers, creeks, and drainage lines.

Long-term interventions would involve structural /hard infrastructure projects identified in the master plan for national government funding. 

“The organized plan with our recommendation will then be passed on to the national agency through our congressmen and would have a sense of urgency to what is needed," he added.

The working group is composed of the local government units (LGUs) of Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, and Cebu Province, along with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH7), Department of Public Works and Highways-Unified Project Management Office-Flood Control Management Cluster, and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development 7.

During the meeting, the member agencies provided updates on their flooding intervention projects.

Cobonpue underscored the need to integrate priority areas from both Mandaue and Cebu cities, identify crucial flooding areas, and to consolidate the 2025 priority programs, activities and projects from the member LGUs for funding endorsement.

IDC will also tap the Department of Science and Technology for the repository of the maps and the district offices of DPWH for easier identification of crucial flooding areas. (MYP/PIA7 Cebu)