Vice President Sara Duterte highlighted Davao City’s flood control and mitigation plan amid continuing problems of flooding and flood control anomalies in the country.
In a chance interview with the media in The Hague, Netherlands on Thursday, Duterte said that when she was city mayor in 2018, the city government of Davao created IM4Davao (Infrastructure Modernization for Davao City) together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a 27-year infrastructure plan with a “shopping list” of projects to address the city’s urbanization issues.
“Sa Davao, for example, ang ginawa namin is nagsimula kami sa paggawa ng plano. So, kumuha kami ng international experts,” she said.
Duterte was involved in discussions and workshops for IM4Davao during her term as mayor, as the project was developed under her administration.
The plan outlined infrastructure projects focusing on water systems, traffic, and other urban environmental concerns to improve the city’s competitiveness, safety, and overall condition.
Duterte said under the IM4Davao, it laid out what infrastructure projects Davao City needs to do, wherein one of them is flood control and drainage system.
She said Davao City’s drainage system is already antiquated, and urbanization is rapid, which is the reason why flood control projects and updating of the drainage system also need to follow.
“Kumuha kami ng international experts. Gumawa kami ng IM4Davao, infrastructure modernization for Davao. So nakalatag doon ano yung mga infrastructure projects na kailangan gawin ng Davao City. Isa doon is flood control and drainage system. Kasi nga antiquated na yung drainage system ng Davao City tapos mabilis yung urbanization. So kailangan sumusunod din yung flood control projects at updating ng drainage system,” she said.
According to Duterte, when the flood control and drainage projects came out, they didn’t know what that was yet, and made another plan out of that big master plan. They created a small plan laying out what projects Davao City needs to do to control the flood and fix the drainage system.
Duterte also said that she shared the IM4Davao with the national government hoping it will help fund the project, however, she said there was no interest.
“Ang problema lang, sinabi ko na rin ito dati, andyan yung plano namin, pero walang interest ‘yung gobyerno, yung national government, through the DPWH na fundingan, na bigyan ng pondo yung mga projects. At hindi ito biased ha, kasi hindi naman kami ang gumawa nito. Kumuha kami ng consultants, international experts, to help us make that plan based on their experiences,” she said.
