Meycauayan suffers knee-deep floods despite billions in funds

During the habagat season, Barangay Bayugo in Meycauayan City, Bulacan, experiences severe flooding, prompting residents to evacuate as floodwaters can take days to recede. The area lacks pumping stations, exacerbating flooding issues, and a request for a new pumping station has been made to the mayor to help manage floodwaters more effectively. Despite significant funding for flood control projects, many are reported as incomplete or abandoned, raising concerns about the effectiveness of local governance in addressing flooding issues. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. BULACAN, Philippines – During the habagat season, floodwaters rose to waist level in Barangay Bayugo in Meycauayan City, Bulacan. Residents had to evacuate. For Jhim Encabo, a resident, fleeing home this way had become ordinary in the 16 years he lived here, although floods have worsened recently. These days, a downpour that lasts an hour or so would trigger floods that take five to seven days to recede. From June to August, the southwest wind brings heavy, persistent rain that causes rivers to swell, clogs drainage canals, and pushes floodwater into low-lying communities. Residents in these areas often wake up to rising water inside their homes, forced to carry children, pets, and belongings to higher grounds as streets turn into knee-deep musky channels. They remember that, in 2024, during Typhoon Carina, Barangay Bayugo and other villages in Meycauayan were placed under state of calamity after flood waters rose above head level (lagpas tao). At the time, Meycauayan Mayor Henry Villarica recalled, 80 percent of Meycauayan was submerged in up to 3.66 meters of floodwater. Zaldy Co-linked pumping stations in Meycauayan Barangay Bayugo has no pumping stations to drive flood water to rivers and other discharge points. So when the Meycauayan River overflows during habagat season, floodwater has nowhere to go but in the streets and inside homes until it recedes on its own. It is one of the 17 barangays without a pumping station in Meycauayan. The others are: Bagbaguin, Bahay Pare, Bancal, Caingin, Camalig, Iba, Langka, Libtong, Liputan, Pajo, Pandayan, Pantoc, Perez, Saint Francis (Gasak), Tugatog, and Ubihan. Meanwhile, pumping stations in nine barangays are slated for rehabilitation under a tender released on September 18, 2026: Banga, Calvario, Hulo, Lawa, Longos, Malhacan, Poblacion, Saluysoy, and Zamora. Four barangay pumping stations are linked to now-in-hiding congressman contractor Zaldy Co: in Banga, Calvario, Lawa, and Saluysoy. The contracts for these four villages was around P19 million each or roughly P77.34 million combined. More than a decade in power Last July 16, the chairman of Barangay Bayugo sent a letter to Mayor Villarica, requesting the construction of a pumping station in the barangay. “We believe that having our own pumping station will help speed up the drainage of accumulated floodwater, reduce the extent and duration of flooding, and protect the welfare and livelihoods of our residents,” the letter read. Flood control projects in Meycauayan have reached up to approximately P3.15 billion, according to available data in the Sumbong sa Pangulo website. Bulacan State University’s Student Government claimed in 2025 that Bulacan’s 4th District, represented by the mayor’s wife, Linabelle Villarica, received a total of ₱5.16 billion for flood control projects. The Villarica couple has ruled Meycauayan for more than a decade. Henry Villarica served as mayor from 2016 to 2019, followed by his wife Linabelle in 2019. They swapped posts from 2019 to 2022 after they reached their term limits. Henry returned to the mayor’s office in 2022, while Linabelle resumed her seat in the House of Representatives. ‘Completed’ on paper, unfinished on site The Transparency Portal of the Department of Public Works and Highways listed ID 23CD0021 as a flood control project in 2023 for Meycauayan’s tributaries within the Bayugo-Bancal section. The project cost P49 million, and is now marked as completed. Although the project was incomplete when this writer visited the site recently. Excavators, including long reach and amphibious units, were digging along the channel. Open pits, piles of soil and rubble, exposed rebar and trash-filled excavations were visible, and no finished structure could be seen along the stretch we photographed. “Mike” (not his real name), who lives near the site, told Rappler that the structure was supposed to be a dike but was left unfinished after the contractors abandoned the project. According to the DPWH Transparency Portal, the project began on February 22, 2023, and was set to be completed by August 12, 2023, giving contractors nearly six months to finish it. The contract bid was acquired by JB Construction and Supply Inc., which had bagged at least 26 other projects in Bulacan worth an estimated P1.5 billion in total. There are also other projects along the tributaries from the same contractor in the Meycuayan River, including Contract ID’s 23CD0022, 24CD0004, 25CD0087, and many more. The projects are marked as completed on the DPWH Transparency Portal. – Rappler.com Paolo Emmanuel DC Blanco is a Mover based in Bulacan. A student taking AB Communication at the University of Santo Tomas, he is also a news writer for its official student publication, The Varsitarian.