CEBU City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has ordered an investigation into possible environmental law violations by a desalination plant in Barangay Mambaling after residents reported dried-up water pumps.
The mayor has given the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) 48 hours to submit its findings on the environmental impact of a desalination plant operated by Pilipinas Water Resources Inc. (PWRI).
“I only learned about it over the weekend. I already told the Cenro to make the necessary investigation and if there are violations, then I will issue a cease and desist order,” Garcia said during a press conference at City Hall on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024.
Complaints
The investigation follows complaints from Mambaling residents who claimed their primary water sources dried up after PWRI’s desalination plant began operations on July 31.
Trifina Ylaya Estrada, 82, said her family’s 120-meter-deep water pump stopped yielding water shortly after the plant’s operations started.
She said water briefly returned when the plant temporarily shut down but dried up again when it resumed operations. Estrada now buys mineral water at P20 per gallon and struggles with transportation.
Another resident, 32-year-old Reyzalyn Alonzo, said her family’s well also dried up, forcing her to fetch water from a distant well. Her neighbor Elvie Englis said her family relies on a water supplier, but the water is sometimes turbid.
Concerns over dried wells were first raised to the Coastline Management Board (CMB) on Thursday, Nov. 28, by residents of Barangays Mambaling and Basak Pardo, according to Ed Karlon Rama, executive director of the Cebu City Bantay Dagat Commission.
Similar complaints were reported in Barangay San Nicolas during an executive session on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
Rama, who also chairs the CMB, said the wells began drying up after the desalination plant started operations earlier this year. The board is gathering initial reports from other coastal barangays to determine the full extent of the problem.
Mayor Garcia said he has not yet contacted the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) about the water supply issues.
SunStar sought comment from MCWD information officer Minerva Gerodias but had not received a response as of press time. / JPS