MANILA -- Malacañang on Monday thumbed down the proposal of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia to create a Department of Water to prevent water shortage recently experienced by some parts of Metro Manila from happening again.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said it was a simple problem that could easily be fixed.
“Hindi kailangan iyan. I don’t think kailangan (It’s not necessary. I don’t think it’s necessary),” Panelo said in a Palace briefing.
In a tweet on Thursday, Pernia suggested the creation of a water department to centralize the supply and distribution of water among government agencies and water concessionaires.
Panelo found Pernia’s proposal unnecessary, noting that the water shortage was a simple problem that the Ayala-led water concessionaire Manila Water could easily remedy.
“Iyong lang problema lang na iyon, nagawan kaagad nila ng paraan eh. Simpleng-simple lang ang problema (That problem, they were already able to solve it. It’s a simple problem),” Panelo said.
“They created their own problem, and they provide the solution. It’s pure inefficiency, mismanagement on the part of Manila Water,” he added.
Panelo’s suggestion
Panelo suggested the establishment of water reservoirs in all cities and provinces where water is collected and kept in quantity, exploiting deep well to access groundwater.
“I have a personal suggestion: I think we should really put reservoir in all cities of this country, as well as in provinces. It’s very easy to build reservoir. I cannot even understand why we’re not doing that,” Panelo said.
“Or apart from these reservoir, we can -- what do you call that? -- exploit the deep-well. Because my personal experience in Marikina, I have a deep-well so I have no problem there. Put a generator, then you pump water, walang problema (no problem),” he added.
Panelo pointed out that there are many areas in the country to access water, noting it was not wise to only rely on water concessionaires.
Kaliwa Dam
Panelo was open to the revived proposal of a Japanese company to build a more feasible and cost-efficient alternative to Metro Manila’s looming potable water supply problem.
Osaka-based Global Utility Development Corp. Ltd. (GUDC) chief executive officer Toshikazu Nomura said the company still wants to build the Kaliwa Intake Weir project under a 25-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme.
“Well, I think, every proposal should be considered. The objective should always be the welfare of the people,” Panelo said.
“The most beneficial, the most advantageous to the government and to the people should be the primordial consideration in any contracts involving the government and other private entities,” he added.
The proposed USD410 million Kaliwa Dam will have a capacity of 550 million liters per day (MLD) and a seven-meter-high weir with a 16-kilometer-long tunnel that has a diameter of 3.3 meters.
EO out this week
Meanwhile, Panelo said the proposed Executive Order (EO) being drafted to address the water shortage may be released sometime this week or next week.
“It should be ready any time this week or the week after,” Panelo said.
Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Karlos Nograles said the draft EO is being finalized and will soon be submitted to President Rodrigo R. Duterte for his input and approval.
The proposed EO includes a provision that transfers the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) from the supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to the supervision of the Office of the President (OP).
“Among the provisions of the proposed EO is the reconstitution of the National Water Resources Board into a body that will be responsible for policy, direction-setting, and the integration of all government efforts pertaining to water,” Nograles said in a statement.
Nograles said the supervision of the OP could help ensure that all agencies involved in water resource management “are on the same page”, given the scope and breadth of water-related concerns.
The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said the water supply in Metro Manila has been restored to up to 90 percent of the affected areas although some might still experience shortage. (PNA)
