Senator Loren Legarda (File photo)
MANILA – Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda has called for the development of sustainable water management as she also urged women worldwide to lead campaigns in water preservation to help address the global water crisis.
"Water is life, and it affects everyone. As the theme for the observance of World Water Day this year implies, we must accelerate change. This means that we must increase our efforts to save our water resources and ensure a sufficient water supply for present and future generations," she said.
"Small changes can go a long way. Starting from our homes and workplaces, we can protect and save our water by changing how we use and consume it. There are a lot of simple and easy ways to conserve water, and we must stop disposing pollutants to our rivers," she added.
Legarda has been pushing for community and government initiatives to minimize the risk of the country's water resources to run dry, such as reusing wastewater for irrigation, rehabilitation of watersheds through reforestation, and protection of mangrove soils as she emphasized the significance of every individual's actions in saving water and protecting resources.
As Women's Month closes, the senator said world leaders will meet in New York City, USA for a mid-term assessment of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028) as she also noted that both water and women's issues weave through the interrelated global crises that the world faces today -- climate change, biodiversity loss, and degradation of land and water.
"I declare that it is time we see the water crisis and go into the conference in New York with the eyes of mothers, daughters, and girls. I call on the men and women gathered there to channel all women and approach these interwoven issues like the world is a household, and we have to protect our assets and ensure that we all survive and thrive," Legarda said.
"We have been trying to solve water supply and sanitation issues as macro concerns instead of looking at water management at home and the bigger issue through the lens of the smaller one. Because of this, we have been solving the water crisis blind to the power of women to contribute and take power while they reduce the burdens they carry on water issues," she added.
The World Meteorological Organization estimates that around 3.6 billion people worldwide struggle to have access to sufficient and clean water.
Last March 14, Legarda filed Senate Bill No. 1993, or the Blue Economy Act, which seeks to adopt the blue economy as a framework for sustainable, safe use and development of marine wealth within the country's Maritime Zones as it also aims to protect and conserve the health and resilience of marine and coastal ecosystems and habitats to promote the well-being, prosperity, and security of present and future generations of Filipinos.
The proposed measure aims to protect and conserve the health and resilience of marine and coastal ecosystems and habitats to promote the well-being, prosperity, and security of present and future generations of Filipinos. (With a report from Leonel Abasola/PNA)
