Following the onslaught of typhoon “Kristine”, Senator Imee Marcos stressed the need to include funding for green infrastructure in the 2025 budget to address typhoon and flooding problems.
“Let’s start with simple solutions at the community level, such as expanding mangrove forests and planting indigenous bayog or Bambusa spinosa, which the ancient Filipinos used for housing, and gabion species, along riverbanks,” Marcos said.
“Let’s start with simple solutions at the community level, such as expanding mangrove forests and planting indigenous bayog or Bambusa spinosa.”
The veteran legislator also suggested the use of permeable materials to replace all cement or “gray infrastructure”.
The seasoned lawmaker also suggested building a pilot model of a “sponge city” able to withstand and absorb heavy rainfall, similar to those proliferating in flood-prone areas in China and India.
In 2025, the infrastructure budget is expected to reach P1.28 trillion.
The lady senator emphasized that the government should include “green infrastructure” for the first time.
“We need to invest in solutions like vertical parks, rooftop gardens, and void decks.”
“The budget is always focused on gray infrastructure, purely concrete structures, but we can’t deny that these materials aren’t permeable and can’t absorb rainwater,” she pointed out.
“We need to invest in solutions like vertical parks, rooftop gardens, and void decks. The climate is deteriorating at a faster rate than anyone expected, it’s time to fund green spaces even in urbanized zones,” Marcos explained.
“No doubt very costly would be the huge underground cistern city centers, such as those found in Amsterdam and Singapore. But far more expensive would be the lives, businesses and homes that would otherwise be destroyed,” she added.
The United Nations has reported that the Philippines is among the countries most vulnerable to disasters, and has in fact chosen the Philippines to headquarter the new Loss and Damage Fund to finance climate change adaptation.
