NOW is the right time to create one agency that will focus on the water sector, considering the current threat of El Niño and other ongoing issues regarding water.
Sen. Imee Marcos, during her interview on SunStar Cebu’s news and commentary program Beyond the Headlines on Sunday, March 10, 2024, pointed out that there are more than 40 agencies handling water matters and hundreds of water districts across the country, yet the volume of water flowing through the consumers’ faucets is limited.
Agencies that handle water include the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, River Management, Flood Control Management, Local Water Utilities Administration, National Irrigation Administration and the National Wastewater Surveillance System, among others.
She said water districts have been pushing for a rate increase, but the water is not flowing.
“It’s time to look once again at systemic issues. Ang gulo talaga, eh,” said Marcos.
The senator said she has a pending bill that is pushing the National Government to create one agency that will mandate the handling and use of water, or at least mandate the agencies to complement or assist each other.
Marcos said previous chief executives had called for the creation of a Department of Water to streamline all agencies that handle water sector.
“We really have to get our act together. Magulo (ang) maraming (Having so many agencies is chaotic) agencies, yet no water at all,” she said.
Her plans were welcomed by Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) chairman Jose Daluz III, who agreed with the senator.
Daluz, in a Viber message on Sunday, said it is high time for the National Government to prioritize and address issues involving water as the matter is no longer a local problem, but a global concern.
“Lack of clean water will be (an) important issue that will impact the near future,” he said.
In previous report of SunStar Cebu, Ronilo Balbeiran, a professor and an economist, said the El Niño phenomenon would be the country’s “biggest risk for 2024,” as extreme weather conditions could constrain the supply of rain-driven agricultural commodities that could lead to higher food prices and inflation.
In February, the country’s El Niño Task Force reported that 41 provinces were affected by the El Niño, with 17 provinces experiencing dry conditions and 10 provinces experiencing dry spells. The other 14 provinces were experiencing drought.
The weather bureau Pagasa Visayas reported last January that Cebu and 10 other provinces in the Visayas were feeling the effects of the El Niño.
Pagasa Visayas chief Alfredo Quiblat Jr. said 10 of the 11 provinces in the Visayas were experiencing dry conditions. Only Negros Occidental in Western Visayas was under a dry spell.
According to the Pagasa website, dry condition refers to two consecutive months of below normal rainfall conditions, or a drop of 21 percent to 60 percent, while dry spell refers to three consecutive months of below normal rainfall conditions, or a drop of 21 percent to 60 percent, or two months of way below normal rainfall, or a drop of more than 60 percent.
A drought refers to five consecutive months of way below normal rainfall, or a drop of more than 60 percent. / JJL