Philippines looks to Singapore for flood solutions

26/07/2026 4 Views

MANILA: The Philippines is looking to adopt Singapore’s flood management technologies and best practices as it seeks to address the impact of disasters, according to an official from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Singaporean companies showcased a range of flood control measures — from capturing real-time data on natural hazards to recycling rainwater — at the 2026 Stormwater Summit in Makati City.

The DPWH will “assess which of these can be adopted and determine the cost of implementing such projects”, Undersecretary Charles Calima told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the sidelines of the summit.

“We will see how they implement some of their measures in a more effective and efficient manner,” Calima said, adding that proper waste management remained one of the government’s key measures to address flooding.

The Philippines, an archipelago of at least 112 million people, is prone to flooding caused by an annual average of 20 cyclones that form over the Pacific Ocean, as well as monsoon rains.

April Yang, founder and chief executive officer of Flexi Systems and FloodX, highlighted the company’s Tethys platform, which aggregates five streams of data in real time: water quality and turbidity; rainfall intensity and forecasts; blockage and silt alerts; live flood levels and trends; and tidal influence on drainage.

“Flexi Systems captures real-time data so we can react in time, or even before, to floods,” she said, adding that “knowing gives you peace of mind and lets you plan ahead of time”.

Ryan Yuen of PUB Consultants, the international business arm of Singapore’s national water agency, PUB, cited the country’s investments in infrastructure over the past 50 years to regulate reservoirs, improve drainage systems and treat rainwater runoff using rain gardens.

“In Singapore, we introduce water recycling and it’s a key part of our sustainability strategy. We want to reuse every drop endlessly,” Yuen said.

Both Yang and Yuen, however, acknowledged that a combination of engineering solutions and community resilience was needed to mitigate flooding.

In his speech, actor Dingdong Dantes, an ambassador for the Office of Civil Defense, emphasised the idea that resilience “is the courage to adapt” and “not simply the ability to recover”.

He shared the story of “Nanay Evelyn”, the subject of a documentary he produced, recalling how her home was submerged in floodwater and how she had to use a small plastic boat to buy food, drinking water and other necessities.

“It was not the flood that broke my heart. It was realising that she had grown accustomed to crossing floodwaters every day, sleeping on the second floor while the lower part of her home remained submerged, and waiting — hoping that one day, somehow, things would get better,” the actor said.

“Resilience is the courage to adapt, the discipline to prepare, the humility to work together, and the determination to keep moving forward — even when life may never return to what it once was,” he added.

ANN/Philippine Daily Inquirer

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