THE interagency Infrastructure Committee (Infracom) has approved for recommendation to the President an Executive Order (EO) on Water, as well as the use of the Project Development and other Related Studies (PDRS) Fund for new project studies to be completed this year.
On Monday, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Officer in Charge of Investment Programming Jonathan L. Uy said the EO on Water was the major item that the Infracom approved during the meeting. The EO will be forwarded to the Executive and Cabinet secretaries before submission to the President for his approval.
The EO will create the National Water Resources Council (NRWC) as an interim solution pending the passage of the proposal to create the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Water Regulatory Commission (WRC). Uy said the NWRC and eventually the DWR and WRC will address all aspects of water use in the Philippines —water and sanitation, water rights, water quality, and even flood control.
Earlier, former Environment Secretary Elisea Gozon, the lead
author of the Water EO and the bill to create the Department of Water, 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.
Gozon said these developments are timely, as the country’s water resources are already under stress. A presentation at the Infracom showed water availability per capita was at 1,907 cubic meters (m3) per year as of 2000.
However, using 2018 population estimates of 107 million, per capita availability of water is 1,533 m3/year. “This means that the country already falls below the international ‘water stress’ threshold of 1,700 m3/year and is fast approaching the ‘water scarcity’ threshold of 1,000 m3/year,” the presentation stated.
PDRS funds
Meanwhile, the Infracom also approved the use of the remaining P169.87 million from the 2018 PDRS to finance 11 project studies this year. Documents obtained by BusinessMirror showed that two projects will be allocated P106.2 million.
These are the studies for the Formulation of Tourism Infrastructure Development Plans in Top Tourist Destinations in the Philippines, worth P86.2 million, and the study to operationalize and improve the sanitation/septage management system of Baguio City (P20 million).
The study on tourist destinations was identified by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) and will be implemented in Baler, Aurora; Malapascua Island, Cebu; Guimaras Island; and Cuatros Islas, Leyte.
“[The study] aims to determine the carrying capacities of top tourist destinations in the Philippines and identify the necessary infrastructure programs and projects to enhance the utmost potential of said areas as a vibrant tourism and/or investment attraction/destination while maintaining its integrity, competitiveness, security and resiliency from disasters,” the documents said.
The other project on the study of the sanitation and septage management system of Baguio City will be done in cooperation with the city government and the Baguio Water District.
The project aims to develop a concept study for sanitation development in the City of Pines in the form of sewage, septage management program or projects in the next 25 years.
The study will also include options and value engineering alternatives, business case and pre-feasibility studies for the proposed programs. It will also study capacity building of relevant agencies, including the Baguio City government and BWD.
The remaining P63-million fund will be used for other
studies. There are currently nine projects in the
pipeline, including possible studies on the updating of the Bicol River Basin
Master Plan; Pre-Feasibility Study for the Proposed Cagayan Valley Eastern
Seaboard Highway; Cotabato City Drainage Master Plan; and Cagayan Special
Economic Zone and Freeport Land Use and Master Plan.
Other possible studies include the Pre-FS Study for the proposed Cagayan Valley Railway System Project; Northern Mindanao Government Center Master Plan Formulation; Ormoc City Flood Control Project; Ormoc City Waterworks System Project; and Gusali ng Wika.
The priority in this pipeline will depend on the score of each project based on PDRS guidelines. The criteria for prioritization includes sector relevance; total project cost; nature of government entity; scale of impact; proposed project timeline; status of project preparation; and absorptive capacity.