THE government is banking on private-sector support to address urgent issues on water security starting with the rehabilitation of potential alternative sources of water.
Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu recently met with officials of various government agencies with mandates over water supply and the Water Alliance, a multisectoral movement spearheaded by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), where he expressed concern over a potential water-security problems, and called for greater public- and private-sector collaboration.
Cimatu wants the Water Alliance to lead private-sector efforts that will boost government initiatives to prevent a looming water crisis.
The environment chief said 90 percent of the potable water in greater Metro Manila comes from the Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan, which lies on top of the West Valley Fault.
Cimatu expressed concern that, in the event of a strong earthquake, the dam could be completely destroyed.
He added the present and future generations of Filipinos stand to benefit from the water-security initiatives, such as finding alternative sources, although he admitted that it will be a big challenge.
“We want to imprint something [about] water—Manila Bay, Laguna Lake and Pasig River. If we will be able to fix it [alternative water sources], this will be for the next generation. We may not be able to do everything, but we will do what we can,” he said.
The environment chief is also concerned of the poor water quality of Manila Bay, Laguna Lake and various river tributaries of the Pasig River because of the indiscriminate dumping of garbage and untreated wastewater.
To address the problem, an Executive Order (EO) was crafted expanding the work on the rehabilitation, involving agencies not covered by the mandamus and removing obstacles posed by agencies, including local government units.
Convening a multiagency meeting involving officials and representatives of the National Water Resources Board, Manila Bay Coordinating Office, Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, Environment Management Bureau, River Basin Coordinating Office, Laguna Lake Development Authority and the PBSP Water Alliance, Cimatu underscored the urgent need to solve the potential water problem in an integrated manner and find ways to hasten its implementation.
Environment Undersecretary Maria Paz G. Luna, designated official for the Manila Bay Concerns and Related Water Concerns, meanwhile, urged to turn the crisis into an opportunity.
She urged resource mobilization to address “intractable problems” in an innovative and enterprising way.
Luna revealed there is a limitation in the Operational Plan for Manila Bay Coastal Strategy (OPMBCS) because it involves only 13 mandamus agencies.
With the plan, there is no clear indication that, by 2022, OPMBCS will be able to deliver the target of Class SB water, thus the need to engage all relevant sectors, such as the private sector, civil society and academe.
Class SB for saltwater means the water is safe for swimming, bathing and other recreational activities.
“If we wait 15 years, the cost of sewage rehabilitation will be 85 percent to 96 percent higher than if we do it earlier. We are trying to solve a problem without knowing the baseline. We are operating with decades-old data, with less money than we need, with a hobbled enforcement platform. These are the challenges that impede our achievement of the desired outcomes,” Luna said.
The common strategic framework will be a multisectoral rapid- rehab plan that will integrate the current plans of agencies, as well as inputs from the Water Alliance, academe and civil society. Its goals are to drastically reduce domestic sewage reaching the bay; reach a critical mass in solid-waste management; reach a critical mass in industrial and commercial wastewater management and form effective institutional partnerships.
The Water Alliance, for its part, has been tapped to coorganize with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) a stakeholder’s forum in January to help in the creation of a common framework and assist the department in the development of a research agenda on the three water bodies.
The DENR, for its part, established the Manila Bay Rehabilitation and Conservation Enterprise for all sectors to participate in the development of the framework; to hold a Science Congress that will result in the creation of the research agenda and to identify and share technological solutions.
PBSP Executive Director Reynaldo Antonio Laguda said the private sector is up to the challenge. He committed to rallying members to raise funds for projects, as well as provide an opportunity for companies to help in the behavioral change.
The Water Alliance, he added, will circulate the EO as part of the consultation process and support to these goals.
The Water Alliance is working on four action areas: providing water for waterless communities, water-footprint reduction, governance and policy reform and research and database mining. It is composed of 60 members that include First Philippine Holdings, Aboitiz Group, Shell, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Smart/PLDT, San Miguel, Maynilad, Manila Water, World Wide Fund for Nature, Oxfam, University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University.
“The Water Alliance seeks to help address the issue of water security by being a platform for synergy of multisector efforts; leveraging use of technologies, expertise and resources from business and its members from civil society and academe; and bringing to fore the importance of water as a scarce resource in communities,” Laguda said.