IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay – The massive flooding that struck Cebu during Typhoon Tino serves as a stark warning for Mindanao, where hills and forests are vanishing fast in the name of “development.”

According to Dr. Mahar Lagmay, executive director of the University of the Philippines (UP) Resilience Institute, the country’s worsening floods can no longer be addressed solely by building concrete walls, dikes, and drainage systems. The key, he said, lies in restoring the nation’s forest cover — including Mindanao’s vulnerable watersheds.

“If forests are intact, they absorb rainwater, slow down runoff, and reduce flooding. When you remove trees, you remove the natural sponge that holds water,” Lagmay said in an interview with GMA News.

Forests Depletion in Mindanao

In Cebu, where Typhoon Tino unleashed landslides and river overflows, environmentalists estimate that less than 2% of the province’s natural forest remains. In Mindanao, forest depletion follows the same dangerous trend — from the Zamboanga Peninsula to Bukidnon and Davao del Sur.

Illegal logging, upland farming, and open-pit mining have eaten into forested areas of Mindanao once buffering rivers. With every heavy rain, swollen rivers now threaten low-lying barangays that never used to flood.

“We can’t concrete our way out of this crisis,” Lagmay stressed. “We need to rebuild the forests that hold the water back.”

Environmental researchers say that decades of land conversion and weak enforcement of forest protection laws have left river basins and watersheds severely degraded. The loss of tree cover has turned once-gentle streams into flash-flood corridors, destroying crops and homes downstream.

Local climate advocates also point out that government flood projects often focus on downstream engineering solutions—like dikes, seawalls, and drainage canals—without addressing upstream degradation.

“You start at the top of the watershed,” Lagmay said. “Restore forests, build retention basins and mini-dams, harvest rainwater. Only then do you build dikes.”

Nature-based Flood Control

For towns like Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay, which functions as a commercial hub but still relies on natural drainage systems, integrating nature-based flood control into development plans has become a matter of survival.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has implemented reforestation initiatives, but many focus on fast-growing monocultures rather than restoring diverse, native forests that protect watersheds more effectively.

With climate change amplifying rainfall and typhoon intensity, experts say the failure to prioritize ecosystem-based flood prevention could spell disaster for Mindanao’s communities.

“Restoring forests is not just an environmental issue,” Lagmay said. “It’s about saving lives.”

About The Author

Antonio Manaytay

Antonio Manaytay is a journalist, editor, and pastor reporting for Rappler and leading the Daily Sun Chronicle. A 2024 Klima Fellow, he covers climate, governance, and grassroots resilience in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

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