Archival: Poor urban planning contributes to worsening flooding in Cebu City

Local

CEBU City Mayor Nestor Archival Sr. admitted on Monday, August 18, that decades of poor urban planning and the city’s long-delayed Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) are partly to blame for Cebu City’s worsening flooding problem.

In an interview, Archival acknowledged that while he is “not an expert on flooding,” one of the clearest issues lies in the city’s planning failures.

“That’s one possibility gyud kay ako dili man gyud ta expert sa flooding na issue. But that’s one possibility kay even atong CLUP nga ato man nang gitagaan ug importansya kay apil man gane atong mga rivers ana, bag-o pa man gane ta nakahimo sa CLUP,” Archival said.

“Kung imong tan-awon, poor gyud tag urban planning kay wala man tay CLUP, 29 years,” he added.

The mayor’s remarks came after heavy rains once again submerged major roads and southern barangays, forcing the suspension of in-person classes and paralyzing traffic in key areas like N. Bacalso Avenue and the South Road Properties.

Archival said the latest flooding only highlights the urgency of aligning infrastructure, zoning, and environmental protection measures under the new CLUP, which had been delayed for nearly three decades.

The city’s old land-use plan expired in 1996 and was never comprehensively updated until this year, leaving Cebu without a unified framework to guide development, drainage, and housing projects.

The revised Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, signed into law by then-mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia on June 30 and backed by Archival during his time as councilor, now serves as the implementing vehicle of the new CLUP.

Archival said the delay in its passage contributed to uncoordinated growth, where housing subdivisions, commercial projects, and upland developments spread without fully accounting for waterways, drainage corridors, and natural buffers.

“Ang CLUP apil gyud ang mga suba ana. Dili lang na plano para sa syudad nga mu-expand indiscriminately, dapat integrated ang tanan. Imagine, we operated without this plan for 29 years,” he said.

Archival’s acknowledgment follows warnings from both historians and planners that Cebu’s flooding is rooted in the erasure of its natural waterways.

In a forum last Sunday, Dr. Michael Cullinane of the University of Wisconsin-Madison presented rare Spanish-era maps showing how rivers and streams that once absorbed heavy rains were gradually covered by reclamation, roadworks, and urban expansion.

Architect Jhomarie Villarojos of the Cebu City Planning and Development Office, meanwhile, stressed that unchecked upland development, clogged drainage, and weak enforcement of land-use policies are worsening the city’s vulnerability.

“Deforestation, climate change, and extreme rainfall are challenges we must prepare for,” Villarojos said, pointing to the urgent need for sustainable planning and stricter environmental safeguards.

The passage of the zoning ordinance tied to the CLUP was not without controversy.

Carbon Market vendors and civil society groups accused both Garcia and Archival of paving the way for “privatization” and displacing small livelihoods.

Archival, however, has rejected the accusations, saying the CLUP is a technical and legislative necessity that should no longer be delayed.

“Unsa man ako i-betray nila? I stood by them before, and I still stand by them now. But I am the mayor of everybody,” he said, adding that his administration will review project contracts to ensure public interest is protected.

With the CLUP now in place, Archival said Cebu City finally has the framework to confront flooding at its roots, but it will require coordination across agencies, developers, and communities.(TGP)