Every year, when typhoon season comes, fear rises with the floodwaters.
Homes go under. Families evacuate. Lives stop.
But what if the answer isn’t more concrete walls…
but bringing nature back to life?
This is the message of Dr. Mahar Lagmay — a geologist and resilience expert from the University of the Philippines. In a report by Ian Cruz for 24 Oras, he stressed that the forests we lost over the past two decades must be restored.
Because those trees once held the soil in place.
They absorbed rainwater before it crashed into our cities.
They were our shield.
Lagmay said forests are only the beginning.
We need retention basins.
We need flow-through dams and mini-dams to slow down the raging water.
We need rainwater harvesting and pumping stations to push excess water back to the sea.
Layer upon layer of protection — nature first, infrastructure second.
He warned that building dikes should be the last solution.
“Dikes work better when the floods are already reduced,”
he explained.
“If we only build dikes during huge floods, they will just overflow.”
And yet, for years, dikes have been our go-to answer.
Cebu’s Painful Lesson
Just recently, Typhoon Tino proved that concrete alone isn’t enough.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon visited Talisay City and Mandaue City — two of the hardest-hit areas in Cebu. The dikes there failed to contain the overwhelming floodwaters as rivers burst their limits.
The Mananga River.
The Butuanon River.
Both furious. Both unstoppable.
Billions of pesos are already being poured into Cebu’s flood control —
P26.7 billion worth, including dozens of projects across the two rivers.
But even with all that spending, Dizon admitted the truth:
“A dike can only do so much.
Normal rain? It can handle that.
But once-in-20-years typhoons?
It’s not enough.”
He pointed out what’s missing:
Controlling the water from the mountains
before it crashes into our communities.
Time to Listen to Nature Again
Both experts say it clearly:
If we keep fighting water with walls… we will lose.
But if we rebuild forests, slow the water upstream, collect rain where it falls, and add smarter engineering…
Then we can protect our people.
We can protect our future.
Because this isn’t just about flood control —
It’s about restoring the balance we broke.
And it’s time we let nature help us heal. 🌱🌧️🌊
