THE Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) has proposed implementing enhanced risk management strategies to address the issue rather than declaring a state of calamity declaration on Friday, April 5, 2024.
Iloilo City is currently experiencing water scarcity as a result of the El Niño phenomenon.
While the number of affected residents meets the threshold for declaring a state of calamity, Engineer Neil Ravena, head of the CDRRMC's Logistics Cluster, believes the situation is manageable.
"Though the affected population in the city reached the required number for the declaration, the situation on the ground is still manageable," Ravena said.
A Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment (CDRA) conducted on the 25 most affected barangays revealed residents have various coping mechanisms.
The survey found residents purchase drinking water, store water from Metro Pacific Iloilo Water (MPIW), utilize shallow wells, share resources with neighbors, and collect water delivered by Mpiw. Some even procure water from nearby barangays.
The CDRRMC has proposed several measures to address the water scarcity issue in the community.
They recommend prioritizing water distribution to highly vulnerable areas, deploying water tanks, implementing water rationing, and promoting water conservation through community outreach efforts.
Additionally, they suggested considering co-management or resource sharing with neighboring barangays, procuring more water tanks, and constructing rainwater harvesting facilities.
They also encouraged collaboration with the private sector to address water-related challenges and urged water suppliers to fulfill their corporate social responsibility.
"MetroPac has committed to providing additional water on top of their regular deliveries," Ravena said.
The City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) is closely monitoring the water supply situation. The CDRRMC will reconvene if the situation worsens.
On April 6, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas expressed his intention to discuss the water shortage with the CDRRMC.
He explored the possibility of declaring a state of calamity to facilitate water procurement from suppliers and delivery to affected barangays.
However, the current focus seems to be on managing the situation without resorting to a state of calamity declaration, utilizing a combination of resident coping mechanisms, collaboration with water suppliers, and proactive measures suggested by the CDRRMC.
"I am planning to call for a meeting of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Managememt Council to discuss the possibility of declaring a state of calamity on water supply so that we can procure water from Mpiw and Balibago Water which they can deliver to barangays with water tanks which do not have water now. As reported, the hotels, condominium units, subdivisions, convention centers, and other MICE facilities continue to have more than sufficient water," Treñas said. (Leo Solinap/SunStar Philippines)