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SEPTEMBER 4 - 10, 2026 • ASIAN JOURNAL
http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 937-9981 • (818) 937-9982 • (213) 250-9797
WHEN COSTS KEEP RISING,
SUSIE LEE
HAS OUR BACK.
Voted to lower our healthcare costs and make insulin $35. Championed the first major housing bill in a decade – stopping Wall Street landlords from pricing Nevada families out. Voted across party lines to ban Congress from trading stocks. Led school dropout prevention programs for over 64,000 students across 63 schools and achieved an 87% graduation rate. Co-sponsored a bipartisan No Tax on Tips bill to put more money back in the pockets of Nevada's tipped workers.
SUSIE LEE FIGHTS FOR YOU AND ME!
(818) 937-9981 • (818) 937-9982 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com
ASIAN JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 4 - 10, 2026
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From the Front Page
Deadly floods force rethink... PAGE 1 currents in the Tarlac River. The Agana Bridge failure sent a vehicle into the river and prompted search operations. Pampanga was among the provinces hardest hit by persistent flooding. Floodwaters also disrupted traffic along portions of the North Luzon Expressway near San Simon. Communities in Bulacan and Pangasinan faced widespread inundation and evacuations, while damaged infrastructure complicated access in parts of Zambales. Inspecting the damaged Tarlac bridges on Sept. 2, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. turned from emergency repairs to the broader shortcomings of the country’s flood-management system. “We already have a master plan. It’s just never been executed,” Marcos said, referring to flood-control planning that he said had existed for decades. Decades of plans, uneven execution The historical record is more complicated than the existence of a single plan that was never implemented. Successive Philippine administrations have developed multiple flood-management programs, and portions of those plans have produced major infrastructure projects. Implementation, however, has often been prolonged, fragmented or divided among separate river basins, metropolitan drainage systems and local projects. Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon acknowledged during congressional budget deliberations in August that the country does not have one consolidated national flood-control master plan. The Department of Public Works and Highways has instead relied heavily on individual master plans for major river basins, supplemented by metropolitan and regional programs. Malacañang said Thursday that Dizon is considering another review of flood-management planning undertaken during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III, when Rogelio Singson was public works secretary. That effort included the Metro Manila Flood Management Mas-
ter Plan approved by the NEDA Board in September 2012, three years after Tropical Storm Ondoy caused catastrophic flooding across the capital region and nearby provinces. Developed with World Bank assistance, the plan envisioned a 20- to 25-year program then estimated at as much as P352 billion. It addressed river flooding, drainage networks, pumping stations, communities around Laguna de Bay and other structural and nonstructural measures. Parts of that program were implemented. The $500-million Metro Manila Flood Management Project, approved for financing in 2017 with World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank support and Philippine government participation, has financed pumping-station rehabilitation and construction as well as improvements to drainage systems and waterways. Flood-control works along the Pasig-Marikina river system have also proceeded through several phases with Japanese assistance. Japan International Cooperation Agency records show that planning for the river system stretches back decades, including a comprehensive framework completed in 1990. The issue confronting the government, therefore, is less whether plans ever existed than whether their implementation kept pace with urban growth, environmental change, infrastructure deterioration and increasingly complex flood risks. River-basin plans under review The Marcos administration is now moving to update the planning framework. Malacañang said Sept. 2 that updated master plans and feasibility studies had been completed for 16 of the country’s 18 major river basins as of May 31. Updates for the Cagayan and Pasig-Marikina-Laguna de Bay systems are targeted for completion by the end of 2026. An earlier Palace statement on Aug. 27 described 14 of the 18 basin plans as still being updated and said completion was expected by 2027. The government has not publicly reconciled the differing descriptions.
Officials say older plans must also account for present-day development patterns, updated hydrologic information, climate risks and changes in the areas surrounding waterways. The 2026 General Appropriations Act already directs DPWH to use hydrologic and geospatial studies, vulnerability assessments and environmental analyses in planning flood-control and water infrastructure. It also calls for geospatial validation of projects and coordination among agencies on river-basin and flood-management data. Metro Manila looks underground A separate strategy is taking shape in Metro Manila. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has identified 39 potential “sponge city” sites after reviewing an initial MARINE CARE. Environmental artist AG Saño leads fellow artists and animal welfare advocates in creating a mural calling for an end to 107 locations. dolphin captivity and protection for marine mammals at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. PNA photo by Joan Bondoc The concept calls for tempo- The activity was organized by Earth Island Institute Asia-Pacific. rarily storing stormwater close to where it falls instead of allowing intense rainfall to immediately overwhelm drainage networks. tifications and said Duterte had documents to the charges, while Five priority projects cover six PAGE 1 locations: Miriam College, Camp tablish that the Army programs not instructed him to obtain the Duterte’s lawyers may challenge Aguinaldo and the University of were fictitious. Instead, it limit- documents. Poa said information their interpretation and evidenthe Philippines Diliman in Que- ed what the certifications could in DepEd’s COA response came tiary weight. The House prosecution panel zon City, and Rizal Memorial demonstrate about how DepEd’s from officials involved in confidential-fund operations. is also considering whether to Sports Complex, Rajah Sulayman confidential funds were spent. Prosecutors aim to complete forgo Article III, which accuses Duterte’s defense challenged Park and Remedios Circle in Manila. The Rajah Sulayman and efforts to connect weakness- their Article I presentation by Duterte of bribery involving payRemedios locations are being es in documents directly to the Sept. 9, although that is not a ments to DepEd officials, and proceed directly to Article II. treated as one combined project. vice president. Presiding Officer court-imposed deadline. Bank and tax records arrive No final decision has been anThe projects could include Francis Escudero reiterated that Attention is also shifting to nounced. underground cisterns, detention the burden of proof remains with Article II, which accuses Duterte Conviction threshold quesfacilities and other systems de- the prosecution. Former DepEd official ques- of accumulating wealth alleged- tioned signed to capture water before ly disproportionate to lawful A separate procedural issue releasing it gradually into the tioned The focus shifted Sept. 2 to income and failing to make re- emerged Sept. 3 when Senate drainage network. Majority Leader Juan Miguel MMDA has said the initial Michael Wesley Poa, Duterte’s quired disclosures. On Sept. 3, House prosecutor Zubiri said some senator-judges projects could be completed by former DepEd chief of staff and June 2027 if financing proceeds. spokesperson, who had also Terry Ridon said the impeach- want the impeachment court to Potential financing of as much been part of her impeachment ment court had furnished pros- revisit the number of votes reecutors with subpoenaed bank quired for conviction. as $200 million from the Asian defense team. The court declared Poa a hos- and tax records involving DuterEscudero ruled in July that Infrastructure Investment Bank has been discussed, although the tile prosecution witness, a proce- te, her husband, lawyer Manases conviction requires 16 affirmaamount and terms have not been dural designation allowing pros- Carpio, and companies associat- tive votes under the Constituecutors to ask leading questions, ed with them. tion’s two-thirds requirement finalized. Six banks submitted records, for the Senate. Zubiri said some The projects are intended to not a finding of wrongdoing. Poa had signed DepEd’s re- while the Bureau of Internal Rev- senators raised the issue besupplement, not replace, river improvements, pumping stations sponses to COA questions about enue produced tax documents. cause several members are unand conventional drainage infra- the confidential funds but tes- The court earlier authorized available, but the court has not tified that he had no personal the subpoenas after finding the modified the ruling. structure. No further impeachment triFlood spending under scruti- knowledge of how the money records sufficiently definite and relevant to Article II. was operationally disbursed. al sessions are scheduled this ny Production of the records week. Proceedings are expected He confirmed that DepEd conThe policy reassessment is unfolding as flood-control spending fidential funds had not been giv- does not establish the allega- to resume next week, with prosremains under intense govern- en to the Armed Forces for the tions. Prosecutors must still ecutors seeking to complete Aru PAGE 5 youth programs cited in the cer- present evidence connecting the ticle I by Sept. 9. n
Financial records come under scrutiny...
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SEPTEMBER 4 - 10, 2026 • ASIAN JOURNAL
http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 937-9981 • (818) 937-9982 • (213) 250-9797