Press Release
March 4, 2010

SEN. BONG REVILLA URGES THE GOVT TO PUT WATER
IN PRIORITY AGENDA

CEBU CITY - Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. today said water security should be raised on the agenda of the national government.

"The El Nino phenomenon not just cut our food supply but potable water as well. The national government has been addressing the problems in agriculture but I have yet to hear any concrete plan to address the water shortage, which has been affecting Cebu City , Metro Manila, Baguio City and other parts of the country," the senator said in an interview.

He said the government should invest in water management technology to improve methods of desalinating salt water, especially in Cebu where water shortage has always been a problem.

Desalination is the process of removing salt and other minerals from water in order to be suitable for human consumption and irrigation.

Bong Revilla cited the situation in the countrysides, where deforestation and seawater intrusion have caused freshwater scarcity.

Recently, a Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) official said they have cut water supply from five cbm to one cbm per household as water level in Buhisan dam has dropped due to the dry spell.

The senator added that there is a need to set policies and one of them is to strengthen public participation in conserving water through education.

"We have more than enough water to quench the thirst of Filipinos, yet because of mismanagement, the lack of policy on water and placing the same on least of priority resulted to water crisis," the lawmaker said as he expressed his observation.

He informed that about 80 percent of households in the countrysides still have no faucets. They draw their water from rivers and deep wells.

The senator warned that the continued inaccessibility of Filipinos to freshwater will impair their health and livelihood.

News Latest News Feed