The closure of Boracay and the Manila Bay cleanup have raised hopes that a Department of Water Resources will finally be created, according to a former secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
In a recent forum, former Environment Secretary Elisea Gozon, the lead author of the Water Executive Order and the bill to create the Department of Water, said recent developments are “encouraging.”
Gozon said the proposal to create a separate Department of Water has been around since the time of former President Fidel V. Ramos. However, it was only now under the Duterte administration, that it was given serious attention.
“We need an apex body that has the strong political support and clout. I’m really happy that in the past months, the President has also focused on issues of water,” she said.
“We hope to build on that. Beyond just the water quality, its really more overall water management and we need to ensure that all aspects of water management are actually covered,” Gozon added.
In order to fast track efforts to create the new department, Gozon said the government will come up with an Executive Order (EO) on water. The EO seeks to transform the National Water Resources Board into the National Water Management Council (NWMC).
The NWMC will now act as the interim body to pave the way for the Department of Water or Department of Water Resources, which is well-within the powers of the President. The President, Gozon said, has the authority to restructure the entire Executive branch.
“They can initiate the process of integration, coordinated decision-making of all government agencies with water-related functions,” Gozon said.
The former DENR chief said the country’s water resources are already under stress. Majority, or around 73.05 percent, of its consumptive use is allocated to irrigation; 17.27 percent, for industrial uses; 7.79 percent, for domestic or municipal use; and 2 percent, for other uses.
In terms of nonconsumptive use, the largest allocation is for power at 57.09 percent; irrigation, 31.35 percent; industrial, 7.4 percent; domestic/municipal, 3.34 percent; and others, 0.81 percent.
She added that while 87.7 percent of Filipinos have access to water, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, less than 50 percent have piped water in their premises and majority of these are located in urban areas.
Unfortunately, Gozon said some 332 municipalities nationwide continue to be “waterless” as of December 2015. Waterless means supply is below 50 percent, she said.
In terms of sanitation, the picture is “quite incomplete.” Gozon said that while over 90 percent of Filipinos have toilets, there are places nationwide where open defecation has not yet been eradicated, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas and Western Visayas.
Efforts to address water supply and sanitation are included in the Sustainable Development Goals. Under SDG 6, signatories like the Philippines must “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” by 2030.
The targets include universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030; access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations; and improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, as well as halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally, among others.
Around 193 United Nation member-countries like the Philippines committed to meet the SDGs by 2030. The SDGs were adopted in September 2015.
Apart from SDG 6, the Global Goals aim to end poverty and hunger, promote universal health, education for all and lifelong learning, achieve gender equality, ensure sustainable energy for all, decent work for all, resilient infrastructure, and reduce income inequality between and among countries.