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Sotto eyes Senate probe on water supply woes


Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Wednesday he will order an investigation on the supposed water shortage affecting parts of Metro Manila and Rizal province, while some senators sought clarification from water concessionaires regarding their conflicting statements on the problem.

“Dapat alamin ‘yan, we will have to find out, ano, imbestigahan natin ‘yan. Ano ba ang dahilan bakit nagkakaganun? Sabihin ko sa proper committee para mag-conduct agad ng inquiry,” Sotto said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said regulators should also look into the cause of the water shortage even as he called for long-term solutions to meet the country’s growing water demand.

“It’s very concerning. We have to ask a certain number of questions because we get conflicting reports. Is it a problem of service delivery?” Angara said in a press statement.

Manila Water, which covers the east zone of Metro Manila and Rizal province, has advised its customers to expect more water interruptions in the following days due to limited water supply that it blames on the El Niño phenomenon.

Angara noted that while Manila Water has been suffering supply woes, its west zone counterpart, Maynilad, is not. 

“One service provider is saying there is a problem, the other says none. That is something, I think, the regulators should investigate,” he said.

He said there is a need for structural reforms in the water sector as he noted that some 30 agencies of the government are currently involved in water and sanitation policy, among them the National Water Resources Board, the Local Water Utilities Administration and the Metropolitan Water Sewerage System.

The current setup, he said, is inefficient with jurisdictions overlapping one another.

“I think we really need a high level of discussion whether our underlying philosophies are valid and whether these agencies are serving the people well,” Angara said.

Senator Nancy Binay said the conflicting statements with regard the apparent water shortage in Metro Manila has only increased public confusion.

"The conflicting statements paint a confusing picture of a water crisis that can trigger panic and further impact on public order," she said, adding there should be a clear policy on maintaining water security whenever water supply goes bad.

“Where is NWRB's holistic and comprehensive water resource plan and effective water allocation and reuse policies? We have laws like RA 6716, but the lack of enabling policies on water management makes us ill-equipped in addressing these kinds of problems," Binay said.

For her part, Senator Grace Poe pushed for the approval of a bill creating a single agency in charge of sustainable water management and sanitation amid threats of a prolonged dry spell in Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

Poe said problems in the water sector could be better addressed if there is a uniformed regulatory framework.

“Dapat may iisang water regulatory board na 'di lang sa tubig kundi pati sa sewerage system kasi ngayon wala pang ganyan,” she said.

Poe filed Senate Bill 1217 or the proposed Water Regulatory Act seeking to rationalize and streamline functions of various state agencies in terms of water regulation in that the independent body is mandated to set the policy for water supply, sewerage and septage management, issue licenses, and set, review or approve rates. She filed the measure in 2016. —KBK, GMA News

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