(From left) Ronnie Fernandez of Puerto Princesa City Water District (PPCWD); Antonio Romasanta, general manager of PPCWD; Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Valfrie Tabian; Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm Superintendent Richard Schwarzkopf Jr.; and BuCor Legal Office Chief Daisy Castillote during the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement. (Photo courtesy of PPCWD)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- Water supply in this city will soon get a boost with the planned construction of a PHP720-million water supply development project in Barangay Montible.
The plan to construct a 30,000-cubic meter water supply project in two rivers within the jurisdiction of the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) had been given the green light by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
Puerto Princesa City Water District (PPCWD) General Manager Antonio Romasanta disclosed Tuesday afternoon that after five years, the BuCor had finally agreed to allow them to tap into the Montible and Lapu-Lapu rivers located in Barangay Montible for the project.
He and BuCor officer-in-charge Valfrie Tabian signed the agreement that is renewable every year for 15 years on Feb. 19 in Manila.
“We signed the memorandum of agreement more than a week ago, on the morning of February 19 to be exact. At last, because we’ve been working this out since 2013, the BuCor said yes to the Montible & Lapu-Lapu Rivers Water Project for the benefit of the people of this city,” he said.
In exchange, the PPCWD agreed to supply 50 cubic meters of water daily for every inmate of over 3,000 currently imprisoned in the IPPF and all its subcolonies; pay a fixed amount of PHP100,000 monthly to BuCor that can be used for the improvement of facilities in the IPPF; pay .27 centavos as income share per cubic meter, and free water for all offices inside the penal farm.
“We will have our own meter for the .27 centavos, and payment is depending on the supply we will come up based on the demand,” he said.
The proposed water supply development will be funded by a PHP720-million loan the PPCWD will undertake in the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Development Bank of the Philippine (DBP).
“We are expediting the processing of our loan with BPI and DBP, and hopefully, when it's released within the year, we will start the project as soon as we can,” said Romasanta.
They are also now, he said, facilitating its water rights at the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) as required by Presidential Decree 1067, or “The Water Code of the Philippines.”
“We need to accomplish that before we can develop the two rivers as water sources,” he stated.
He added that the project involves the construction of a free-flowing Teruvian dam that would connect to a water pool using high-density polyethylene pipes, a single-lane road, a processing plant for sanitation, and a 14-kilometer transmission pipe that will connect to the Irawan watershed.
“Our engineer is proposing a Teruvian dam there, and we will be the one to construct this,” Romasanta said, explaining it will be a 15-meter elevated dam.
Despite the project’s additional 30,000 cubic meters to the existing 32,000 cubic meters daily production, Romasanta said it is not enough because of the increasing demand which is now 40,000 cubic meters per day.
“The construction of subdivisions here are fast. Imagine how many are currently being constructed, and all of them will need water. That is why we need to make more water wells,” he said.
Yearly, he said their target is to connect 2,000 homes to water. “Right now, we have 42,000 active subscribers and 10,000 that are inactive. If they’re activated, then we’d have 50,000 and there are more people migrating,” he said.
The MOA signing was also witnessed by IPPF Superintendent Richard Schwarzkof Jr., BuCor Legal Office chief Daisy Castillote, BuCor spokesperson Eusebio del Rosario, Jr. and PPCWD’s Ronnie Fernandez. (PNA)
