Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and NLEX Corp. work on long-term engineering solutions to prevent severe flooding from repeatedly disrupting the North Luzon Expressway in San Simon, Pampanga.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said one option under consideration is a 200-meter flood wall on both sides of the affected NLEX section. The structure would keep surrounding floodwaters out of the expressway while allowing water that accumulates inside to be pumped out.
“It looks doable, but it requires sound engineering,” Dizon said in a radio interview, adding that DPWH and NLEX engineers, together with a Japanese consultant, would assess the proposal.
Dizon said, however, that protecting one stretch of expressway would not address the larger problem. A lasting solution must cover flooding across the Pampanga River basin, including dams and larger retarding or detention basins upstream in Nueva Ecija to temporarily hold water before it reaches rivers and downstream communities.
“That is the only solution. The problem is that it has not been implemented,” he said, noting that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had directed concerned agencies and local governments to begin planning.
NLEX Assistant Vice President for Traffic Operations Robin Ignacio likewise said simply raising the expressway would not be enough.
NLEX has already raised the pavement by 0.7 meters and is considering another 0.3-meter increase. Ignacio said surrounding waterways also need to be cleared and improved so floodwaters can move toward the sea instead of spilling onto roads and communities.
“This is a problem that requires cooperation with the government. We need to study how rainwater and floodwater can flow out without inundating the area,” Ignacio said.
For now, the fix remains temporary. Sandbagging, pumping, and siphoning operations continued as floodwaters outside the expressway stayed high, underscoring the need to move from emergency response to basin-wide flood management.
