Senate to probe MM water shortage
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2019 09:12:00 +0000
Senate President Vicente “Tito” C. Sotto III said yesterday that he would order a Senate probe on the supposed water shortage affecting parts of Metro Manila and Rizal.
Sotto said the investigation would unearth the reasons regarding the water shortage.
“Dapat alamin ‘yan, we will have to find out, ano, imbestigahan natin ‘yan. Ano ba ang dahilan bakit nagkakaganun,” Sotto said in a DZBB interview. “Sabihin ko sa proper committee para mag-conduct agad ng inquiry,” he said.
Sen. Sonny Angara said Congress should look into the water shortage problem with the end view of coming up with long-term solutions to ensure adequate water supplies amid the country’s rapidly rising population and continued economic development.
Angara expressed concern over the ongoing water service interruptions across the concession area of Manila Water, causing inconvenience to many businesses and residents.
Angara noted that while Manila Water had been suffering water supply woes, its west zone counterpart Maynilad is not.
“It’s very concerning. We have to ask a certain number of questions because we get conflicting reports. Is it a problem of service delivery?” Angara said.
“One service provider is saying there is a problem, the other says none. That is something, I think, the regulators should investigate,” he added.
Manila Water, which covers the east zone of Metro Manila and Rizal, has advised its customers to expect more water interruptions in the following days due to limited water supply as El Niño or the prolonged dry spell begins to set in the country.
Reelectionist Sen. Nancy Binay pressed for a full inventory and audit of rainwater catch basins. “Where are the 100,000 barangay rainwater catch basins?” Binay said.
“El Nino is here and the water crisis is real, imminent, and prevalent. Thirty years since Republic Act No. 6716, we want to know how many out of the 42,000 barangays have rainwater collection system gusto nating malaman kung ilan sa mahigit 42,000 barangay ang meron rainwater collection system na ginawa ng gobyerno,” Binay stressed.
RA 6716 is the law that provides for the construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, development of springs, and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays in the Philippines that was enacted in 1989.
Rainwater harvesting is not only for the provision of potable water and for agricultural and industrial purposes, it is likewise being advocated by environmentalists to mitigate the effects of climate change, conserve water, help normalize the water cycles and as mitigating measure against floods.
“The program should have been completed back in 1991, but it seems we don’t have that sense of urgency and just let the law sleep for 30 years,” Binay said. (PNA and Hannah Torregoza)