MANILA, Philippines – NAIS ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na magkaroon ng ‘reorganization’ ng iba’t ibang water agencies para sa episyente at epektibong pagtugon sa mga water-related challenges at para makapagsilbi sa 40 milyong Filipino na walang access sa potable water.
“That’s really the main solution to that is that we have a national plan because water is a national issue. And it has to be handled on a national scale. It cannot be done by – so, that I think remains to be a priority that we are able to reorganize the functions,” ang sinabi ni Pangulong Marcos sa isinagawang sectoral meeting ukol sa investment opportunities sa Palasyo ng Malakanyang, araw ng Martes.
“We do the reorganization, we carry on with the hearings and put forward of our proposals in terms of our what need would like, first, if we would want the authority then we can do that immediately, but we, it’s necessary for us to have an overall plan. And, these water authorities, whatever they are, maraming overlap,” ang sinabi ng Pangulo.
Binigyang-diin naman ng Chief Executive ang pangangailangan para sa gobyerno na pagtuunan ng pansin ang 40 milyong underserved Filipino at ibalanse an water requirements para sa ‘irrigation, household at industrial use.’
“Forty million is too large a number to live with so, we let’s do what we can in terms of reorganizing the authority, to establish an authority let us look at – if we spend our time trying to rationalize all of these, that’s all we’re doing,”ayon sa Chief Executive.
Sa kabilang dako, sinabi naman ni Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan na inatasan siya ni Pangulong Marcos na isama ang flood control management programs ng ahensiya sa ibang sektor para makatipid sa tubig para sa “irrigation, and household at power generation use.”
Sa kabila ng resources nito, kinokonsidera ng Pilipinas ang water-stressed, na may annual average per capita water availability na 1,400 cubic meters (m3), na mas mababa kaysa sa normal threshold na 1,700 m3 per capita kada taon.
“The country needs an annual investment of PhP119 billion (2020-2030) to attain universal access to safe water supply and sanitation services by 2030. Currently, it has only about PhP6 billion average annual public investment on water infrastructure over the last five years,” ayon sa kamakailan lamang na data. Kris Jose
