An aerial photograph shows expansive floodwaters submerging communities in San Simon, Pampanga, on Saturday, August 15, 2026. The entire province of Pampanga has been placed under a state of calamity

Lawmakers and contractors used the climate crisis to push forward flood-control projects. But those have turned out to be defective and in some cases even non-existent.

An aerial photograph shows expansive floodwaters submerging communities in San Simon, Pampanga, on Saturday, August 15, 2026. The entire province of Pampanga has been placed under…