Water is “essential to life” and must go “beyond the commerce of men,” President Duterte declared recently, amid the government’s resolve to ensure public access to clean and potable water.
The President has renewed his commitment to continue to provide for the people’s basic needs, including clean water, as he reached the halfway mark of his six-year term.
The government aims to attain the target of 95.9 percent water supply coverage throughout the country by 2022.
“Access to safe water is a fundamental human right and necessity, and it is our responsibility to provide clean and potable water to our citizens,” Duterte said in his midterm report to the nation.
“Our businessmen should realize that they are catering to a public need and, as such, profit should be balanced with public service and convenience. The government is, therefore, relentlessly pursuing measures to ensure that our people shall have equal access to clean water,” he said.
He recalled that when water interruptions hit Metro Manila and nearby areas last March, he ordered the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to coordinate with Manila Water and Maynilad to take steps to ensure sufficient supply of water.
To prevent a repeat of the water shortage in Metro Manila and meet the growing demand for water in other parts of the country, the President said the government has started to develop alternative water sources.
“In this regard, we have set the implementation of our water projects into full speed, as we continue to pursue our strategic infrastructure development agenda through the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program,” he said.
Among the projects cited by the President are the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project, New Centennial Water Supply-Kaliwa Dam Project, Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project, and Ipo Dam 3 project.
On the Bulacan water project, Duterte said it aims to provide an additional 388 million liters per day of potable water to the province by 2022. The BBWSP’s water treatment facilities and conveyance system for Stages 1 and 2 have been operational since April 2019. (Genalyn Kabiling)
