LOCAL government units of Cebu joined hands to provide solutions and express their commitment to water security and water equality in Cebu City during the Water Summit 2025 on October 9, 2025.
The Water Summit 2025 seeks to institutionalize the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) framework, promoting a participatory approach that coordinates the management of water, land, and related resources to enhance economic efficiency, social equity, and ecosystem sustainability.
IWRM emphasizes a systems-based approach that considers the entire watershed. It seeks to balance competing demands to ensure efficient and equitable water use while safeguarding access to vital resources for future generations.
The initiative aims to enhance data sharing and research collaboration among various LGUs while advocating for the establishment of a Department of Water to oversee policies and address fragmented governance in the water sector.
"Water sustains every part of our life. Our families, our communities, our industries and our future," said Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Jovito Ouano Jr.
Ouano also addressed the declining groundwater supply and polluted rivers, highlighting the fragility of water sources. He urged collective action to safeguard these vital resources.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Cynthia King Chan said the foundation of Lapu-Lapu City Island relies on a secure water supply, as the island faces threats from saltwater intrusion and drought-related water depletion.
Chan also stated their initiative to rehabilitate coastal ecosystems and improve water drainage and harvesting systems, emphasizing that the primary goal is to ensure Oponganons have access to safe, reliable, and sustainable water resources.
For Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr., water does not recognize political boundaries, emphasizing that meaningful progress occurs when different local government units collaborate on solutions.
Gullas said that regarding the concerns of the people, the issues at hand, and potential solutions, political boundaries in Cebu City are merely imaginary.
Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival, for his part, voiced his fears over water scarcity and urged citizens to identify and address the issues related to water distribution.
Archival said a daily water loss of 150 meters results in financial losses of P6.5 million each day.
He also highlighted Cebu City’s proactive initiatives, such as the installation of rain catchment systems in 80 barangays and the promotion of simple yet impactful water conservation practices that can yield significant collective benefits.
The Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers Cebu Chapter Inc. and USC Water Foundation Inc. led the Water Summit 2025, receiving full support from the Department of Science and Technology-Central Visayas.
Various local government units, academic institutions, private businesses, and government agencies attended the summit. (Bryce Ken Abellon, USJ-R intern)