Misleading Claims on the Flooding in Naga City: A Response to Alex Magno’s Column entitled “Misappropriated” last October 31, 2024

I would like to respond to a recent Philippine Star column written by Alex Magno, entitled “Misappropriated”, published last 31 October 2024, for clarity’s sake. For the reader’s information, this was previously sent to the Philippine Star last 22 November 2024. However, instead of publishing the column in full, their opinion editor replied that “Mr. Magno writes your response in his column tomorrow.” He then cited just a few of the facts laid, but butchered the message therein. Hence, for the public’s information, this column is posted in several newspapers and broadsheets to correct Mr. Magno’s erroneous claims on the Flooding that happened in Naga City last 22-26 October 2024.

The article written by Mr. Magno last 31 October 2024 is false, misleading, and intellectually dishonest. It alleges anomalies without specifics, and lacks factual and legal basis in proving any misappropriation by the City Government of Naga. It even omits several key facts in its discussion, giving readers a biased and incomplete story designed to trigger outrage.

First, Mr. Magno conveniently omits that what took place in Naga last October 22-23, 2024 was not just the worst local flooding in memory; it is also worse than Ondoy and the habagat of 2009 that hit Metro Manila, which he himself should be familiar with. One of the three rainfall sensors installed by the Naga City Government recorded 760.7 mm of rain over a 24-hour period starting from noon of October 22. This is higher than the 528.5 mm recorded for Kristine by the PAGASA weather station in Daet, Camarines Norte, and the 454.9 mm for Ondoy. The DPWH-Region V Office even said during the Infrastructure Development Committee meeting on 6 November 2024, that based on their calculations, Kristine was a 200-year return period flooding event, driven by extreme rainfall whose chance of occurring is 1 every 200 years.

When nature unleashes rains of that magnitude, there is pretty much nothing the affected communities can do during the onslaught, as what Marikina and other low-lying areas of Metro Manila experienced in 2009 – except to rise up and learn from lessons in the aftermath. This is what Naga is doing, with the help of fellow Bikolanos from Sorsogon, the least affected towns of Metro Naga like Sipocot, Ragay and San Fernando, as well as the Partido district of Camarines Sur, who sent teams to help clean up our heavily silted city center.

Clearly, Kristine is a different class of typhoon altogether. No amount of “forward thinking” solutions cited by Mr. Magno like dredging (which has been done and from time to time is being done by DPWH, the government agency with the capacity to dredge rivers), or reforesting Mount Isarog (which covers Naga and six other towns in Camarines Sur) could have prevented the damage done.

In less than an hour, starting from 6 pm of October 22, the volume of rain swamped the two Central Business Districts of Naga with two meters of floodwaters, easily overcoming the traditional flood protection measures the city and the national government installed. Any claims of drainages not working are simply wrong, as both the Naga and Bicol rivers were swollen for about a week— there is simply no place for the floodwaters to go until the water levels in the Bicol River subside. This only reinforces the re-emerging consensus that what Naga and the Bicol River basin experienced cannot be addressed by localized flood management measures, but by a regional solution. To single out the Naga City Government is therefore unfair and illogical. It also begs the question– why exclude other LGUs, especially the Provincial Government of Camarines Sur, in seeking accountability?

Unlike Spain, especially the devastated Valencia region where more than 200 have died from flash floods due to a seasonal weather phenomenon known as Gota Fria or Cold Drop, we do not have a word or phrase to describe what just took place in the city.

Second, to put the discussion in the right geographical context, Naga City lies at the intersection of both the Bicol and Naga Rivers. Flooding is not a new issue. Measures have been put into place to prevent, if not mitigate the usual damage they bring. Just last 1-2 September 2024, Typhoon Enteng brought torrential rains that submerged the city center. Thankfully, the revetment on both sides of Naga River built by the DPWH in 2013-2016 held up. Within just a day, the flood waters subsided, allowing us to successfully celebrate the centenary of the canonical coronation of the image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia two weeks later.

Third, generalizing that Naga is one of the hardest hit by Kristine is a disservice to the other nearby municipalities which were hit harder, such as Bula, Camaligan, Canaman, and Milaor, Gainza and San Fernando— all of which experienced even worse flooding. Moreover, his claim that 380,000 individuals in Naga were dislocated is patently erroneous – for a city that only had a 209,170 population as of 2020. If this were the case, not just our lowlands but the whole of Naga City would have been swamped by Kristine!

Fourth, Mr. Magno wrongly concluded that since there is an alleged P132 billion allocation in flood control projects in the Bicol region since 2018, and Naga experienced historic damage, then there is something sketchy going on in the city. He conveniently forgets that all of these projects are being implemented by the DPWH, not the local government. Moreover, Naga receives only a mere drop in the bucket; for instance, the September 20, 2024 report of the 3rd District Engineering Office of the DPWH shows that only P455 million was programmed for four flood control projects in Naga— a measly 1.4% of the alleged P31.94 billion allocated for the entire Bicol region in the 2024 budget. The rest are located in other parts of Bicol, outside Naga. If he has an issue with that, he should look for it in the other local government units in the region.

Fifth, he then misleads the reader using this information as jump off-point for his claims of misappropriation committed by the Naga City Government, by referring to the spending of its Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF), and its Local Development Fund (LDF), among others. Given this, allow me to address the other issues he raised:

On alleged Misappropriation: there is none. Those funds referred to by Mr. Magno were previously appropriated by SP as disaster risk reduction fund, and backed by CDRRMC resolutions detailing their use. Everything was above board, as shown by the qualified audit opinion rendered annually by COA during my term.

As a duly elected mayor, I have a development agenda that the electorate of Naga gave me the mandate to implement. It was formalized under the three-year Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA) crafted together with and approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. But not all items in the agenda can be immediately implemented as planned. So, the different authorizing agencies of the city government (CDC, CDRRMC and the Sangguniang Panlungsod) changed course and greenlit the implementation of next-best projects that also form part of the local development investment program (LDIP). These projects also responded to equally important needs of the city. All of these are allowed under existing laws and guidelines. Thus, no misappropriation happened.

On poor planning: We take COA’s audit opinions seriously. Of course, the city government is not perfect, and we take these opinions as a means of continuous self-improvement. When past COA observations called our attention to gaps in investment programming by ensuring that only projects in the LDIP and its annual iteration, the Annual Investment Program (AIP), should be funded, we tightened our planning and budgeting processes. And indeed, we recently faced the lack of sufficient boats and water transport equipment at the height of Kristine. The need for the equipments were not foreseen as explained above. In response, we have just realigned our local disaster fund (LDRRMF) to address the new realities if brought about.

But we also celebrate favorable ones, like the 97.6% utilization rate of the Local Development Fund (LDF) as of December 31, 2023 which COA said we should sustain, if not surpass. Thus, for 2023, the city government did not underspend for both the LDRRMF and the LDF. Still, we ended up with a P23 million balance in the QRF as the city did not face a major calamity last year. The amount has already been allocated this year. To insinuate misappropriation, when there is none, and use figures to misrepresent this claim, is not only lazy writing– it is also intellectually dishonest.

On the Balatas Evacuation Center. For the Pagcor-funded evacuation center in Balatas, no structural defects were found. Structural defects refer to failure of structural members such as frames and plates that may pose collapse or injury; none of this nature was found. The reported defects on some walls, floors and roof were forwarded to the contractor and they have been rectified. In fact, at the height of Typhoon Kristine, 259 families were accommodated at the evacuation center, based on duly accomplished disaster assistance family access card (DAFAC), belying Magno’s claim that it can only handle 80.

On the JMR Coliseum: repairs conducted on the JMR Coliseum were due to damage brought about by previous strong typhoons that tore up its roofing sheets, eventually affecting facilities inside. The replaced roofing sheet is of a standard material with unique measurements and profile suited only for the area of the damaged part in need of replacement. On the other hand, the wooden basketball court is made from maple wood imported from abroad as specified flooring materials by FIBA and PBA. Repairs and rectification were charged to the contractor within their warranty period, except for acts of God or fortuitous events.

Lest we forget, Naga City is the recipient of several awards attesting to its good governance practices, such as the 2024 Seal of Good Local Governance Awards, awarded just last 14 November 2024; 1st in Overall Competitiveness, and Infrastructure; 2nd Place in Resiliency and Economic Dynamism; and 3rd in Government Efficiency, and Innovation (Component Cities Category) in the 12th Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI); having achieved a consistent 4-peat performance in the last four (4) years.

Sixth, Mr. Magno has a track record of making false, outrageous, and misleading claims in his columns. A cursory Google keyword search of “Alex Magno rejoinder to columns” would show that from 2006 up to present, no less than 11 persons have written rejoinder columns to inform readers of his false and invented claims and correct them in the Philippine Star alone. These include the Office of then-Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, former Malacanang spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, former Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tinga, former Ambassador of Spain to the Philippines, Luis Arias-Romero, and then- Secretary William Dar of the Department of Agriculture. Even our current congressman of the 3rd District of Camarines Sur, Rep. Gabriel H. Bordado, Jr., called out his antics in response to his column dated 19 January 2022, to wit:

“I understand that a columnist is granted more leeway in airing his opinions on matters of pressing public concern. It is my humble opinion that being a journalist, Mr. Magno is duty bound to verify information and consider the credibility and motives of his alleged “good source” before releasing any information or views to the public.

“Finally, it cannot be overemphasized that we live in an era which facilitates easy sharing of information. When important actors spread misinformation, either deliberately or unwittingly, it becomes difficult for the public to distinguish between what is true and what is made up. Consequently, it makes the truth hard to find, especially when fake news are [sic] made to look like real news. With that in mind, responsible journalism dictates to seek only the truth and report it.”

All of these show that one must take Mr. Magno’s column pieces with a grain of salt at best, and subject it to verification; or as political hit jobs at worst, as he has written more than a few columns that misled the public over the years. To echo the sentiments of persons he aggrieved due to his reckless writing– don’t shoot from the hip; do your research and present your facts properly.