Figure 1.

A resident fetching waters

Clean water is essential daily. We use it for consumption and hygiene. Unfortunately,
only some can consume clean water due to areas needing help accessing it, especially
in poor urban and rural areas where they are the least given attention. Every year,
diseases linked to poor sanitation, hygiene, and drinking water cause millions of deaths.
Young children are especially at risk because WASH-related issues are among the five
significant causes of mortality, contributing to stunting and malnutrition. Three hundred
thousand kids under five die from diarrhea yearly due to insufficient WASH. 2.2 billion
people worldwide still need access to services that allow them to drink water safely,
despite significant improvements. 4.2 billion individuals worldwide lack access to
running sanitation systems correctly (WHO,2022). We cited three areas in the
Philippines experiencing clean water and sanitation shortages.

Cebu's water dilemma requires a long-term solution because it keeps coming up, and
different sectors are worried about politics becoming involved. Due to the low water
production from wells, the Mananga river, the Buhisam dam, and other water
infrastructure located throughout Metro Cebu in recent months, Cebu and its adjacent
towns and cities have been suffering from severe water shortages (Manila
Bulletin,2019). According to World Health Organization, Cebu City's annual deficiencies
could make COVID-19 hard to control due to inconsistent clean water supply to poor
urban areas. Water restrictions limit handwashing and hinder the cleaning and
sanitization of healthcare facilities, which impacts the transmission of pathogenic
organisms, including bacteria and viruses. According to Metropolitan Cebu Water
District records, there are 100,889 service connections in the City, predominantly in
urban barangays (Sunstar,2019).

Moreover, concerns are also raised about barangays in mountainous parts because,
due to the topography and water source contamination, the availability of drinkable
water in highland areas remains a challenge—Chief of CCENRO Ma. According to Nida
Cabrera, the City does not meet the SDG 6 targets. Ms. Cabrera is looking for ways to
give water to all sections of the City because, at the moment, about 80% of the City's
water supply comes from groundwater (Sunstar,2019).

Figure 2. Residents of San Miguel Island taking laundry and bathing on acquifer
Source: Residents of this Philippine island struggle to secure daily water supplies | Earth Journalism
Network

Residents of San Miguel Island in Tabaco City's Sitio Malictay must travel by land or
sea to another water source because the aquifers and wells in their areas have dried up
due to the protracted El Nio. A phenomenon that brings in warmer weather can cause
months of drought in the Pacific region. He drags three empty water bottles and a five-
foot black hose with him as he makes the roughly 150-meter walk from his house to the
shore. Together with fellow villager Richie Bobiles, who is also carrying large water
containers, they load the containers onto a motorized boat and travel to the Pahuladan
aquifer. The journey to the aquifer takes the men roughly 25 minutes. They have a
motorized boat, which makes them luckier than other people. Others must paddle for
more than an hour to reach the water source. San Miguel Island has a population of
13,116 as of the 2015 census and is made up of five barangays Angas, Hacienda,
Rawis, Sagurong, and Visita. On San Miguel Island, Pahuladan is one of the few
remaining aquifers. Freddie Burce, a resident of Barangay Hacienda and the chairman
of the Asosasyon kan Conservanistang Paraoma asin Parasira (Association of
Conservationist Farmers and Fishers), claims that the Nagmuri aquifer, another water
source on the island, can be developed with the assistance of the government. In
addition to the residents of San Miguel Island, it also supplies water to the nearby island
of Cagraray. The residents of San Miguel built a bamboo pipe to transfer it from the
mountain to the sea. People bathe, wash their clothes, and stock up on water to bring
home at the Nagmuri water spring. Before this, Tabaco City Mayor Krisel Lagman-
Luistro said that until their wells are complete, residents of San Miguel may receive free
water from the Tabaco mainland. However, the islanders believe traveling to the
mainland is costly and inconvenient. Thus, they prefer a sustainable water source close
to where they live. Arnel Garcia, regional director of the DSWD in Bicol, claims that
more than 2.5 million Filipinos lack access to clean drinking water even without the dry
season. In Bicol, 187,673 people lack clean drinking water, and more than 5 million
Bicolanos rely on dug wells for 30% of their water supply (Earth Journalism
Network,2019).
 Figure 3. Resident of Metro Manila lining up their water containers.
Source: Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite face water interruptions in June 2019 (rappler.com)

A water crisis is occurring in Metro Manila. The government cannot downplay or deny
that. A crisis calls for an immediate reaction, but we have yet to see even the slightest
indication that the authorities are acting urgently. Instead of having 32 federal agencies
overseeing our water resources, Congress has decided that it would be appropriate to
propose the establishment of a Department of Water. Even if hindsight is always 20/20,
we must applaud our forefathers for seeing the necessity of a water-centralized
authority. No one in Congress thinks that adding more red tape will make water
magically appear from dry faucets. Several years ago, private water concessionaires
issued a dire warning about an imminent water crisis in Metro Manila unless there is a
new source of water supply. One could also sense some annoyance with government
regulators who did not seem eager to implement their suggestions. The authorities are
rushing the Kaliwa Dam project as we are currently in a crisis. However, even if the
government declares an emergency, it will not be ready for a few years, so efforts to
find temporary solutions to increase Metro Manila's water supply continue. There are
plans to purify water from Laguna Lake, albeit the cost would be higher given the lake's
pollution. Some people want the government to think about enacting regulations to
reduce waste. There have been earlier efforts to restrict or control how much water golf
courses and car washes can use. The concessionaires already use water rationing
whenever the supply volume decreases (Manila Bulletin,2019).

According to the World Health Organization, one in ten Filipinos still lacks access to
better water sources, but the government aims to make water accessible to everyone by
2028. This fundamental human right has yet to realize for several reasons, including
expensive infrastructure, uneven water delivery, and even bad weather. Financial
difficulties continue to be a significant barrier, but until recently, the WASH sector
needed a single designated lead agency, making it difficult to strategically coordinate
across hundreds of islands. Without a lead body, it was only possible to oversee
development, operations, regulation, and accountability while each province dealt with
its particular issues (Water Crisis in the Philippines,2020).

References

Sdg goal 6: Clean water and sanitation. (n.d.). UNICEF DATA. Retrieved November 15,
2022, from https://data.unicef.org/sdgs/goal-6-clean-water-sanitation/

Cebu’s water crisis needs long term solution. (2019, November 4). Manila
Bulletin. https://mb.com.ph/2019/11/04/cebus-water-crisis-needs-long-term-solution/

Cuizon, R. J. T. F.-R. V. (2019, April 22). Amid dwindling water supply, LGUs seek
long-term fix. SUNSTAR. https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1802255/cebu/local-
news/amid-dwindling-water-supply-lgus-seek-long-term-fix

Residents of this Philippine island struggle to secure daily water supplies. (2019, July
2). Earth Journalism Network. https://earthjournalism.net/stories/residents-of-this-
philippine-island-struggle-to-secure-daily-water-supplies

Water crisis in the Philippines. (n.d.). WATEROAM. Retrieved November 15, 2022, from
http://www.wateroam.com/19/post/2020/10/the-water-crisis-philippines.html

Metro Manila’s water crisis. (2019, November 20). Manila Bulletin.