WERE the Chinese mindful when they designated 2019 as the ‘year of the pig,’ an animal detested by Muslims but enjoys frolicking in mud than in water?
The year is just in its third quarter run, but is sure to pass as the year when the Philippines nearly drowned in extreme water crises.
At the onset of summer last April, populous Metro Manila, the central government seat, woke up to see the dams and its water sources almost dried up, forcing private water supplier Maynilad to resort to allocation and the National Water Regulatory Board (NWRB) to reduce water share for farm irrigation.
Consequently, state regulator Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), addressing the crisis like a sloth, penalized Maynilad with a hefty fine for alleged negligence. Two months later, as consolation to consumers, water rates were reduced to compensate for the fiasco.
Later, in August, the Supreme Court slapped a collective P2-billion fine on Maynilad and Manila Water, another concessionaire, and the MWSS for non-compliance with the Clean Water Act, an affirmation of the Court of Appeals’ verdict finding MWSS and the other two guilty of violating Section 8 of the water code.
The country’s water crisis, however, has gone beyond the issue of potable water, which has started to affect Cebu.
This roster of water-related events, chiefly territorial, has stretched far and wide, and in recent months have caused domestic and international unease.
In the last six months, over 100 Chinese fishing boats were seen off the island-town of Pag-asa in the West Philippine Sea. They later withdrew after triggering an uproar among Filipinos.
Midnight of June 9, 2019, a Chinese ship rammed and sank the Filipino fishing boat Gem-Ver off Recto Bank, and mindlessly left its 22 fishermen crew to drown at sea. Luckily, they were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.
Last July, the Philippines filed a diplomatic protests against China after its warships passed through Sibutu Strait in Sulu Sea without prior clearance, the fourth since February 2019.
On August 4, three outriggered watercrafts crossing the channel linking Guimaras Island and Iloilo, capsized due to violent weather. Some 30 people drowned.
Reluctantly, Filipinos welcomed tropical storm Hanna, expecting it to replenish water stocks in dams. Hannah indeed brought valuable rains but submerged under water many urban centers in Luzon and destroyed coastal communities nationwide.
