11 M Pinoys have no safe drinking water

Sen. Manuel Villar, Jr. said yesterday that 11 million Filipinos nationwide have no access to safe drinking water .

Villar made the statement as he asked the government to implement tougher measures that would compel water suppliers to comply with the national standards to ensure that the 11 million Filipinos would have safe drinking water.

He said that a recent survey showed that over two million households in the country get their water supply from unsafe sources, such as rivers, streams, creeks and collected rainwater.

Earlier reports said an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis and diarrhea in Tondo, Manila, was allegedly due to contaminated water leaking from a single pipe of a water service provider.

Villar said that more than 200,000 households in Western Mindanao have been waiting for years for the government to help them gain access to safe water.

"It is deplorable that the hundreds of deaths from cholera and diarrhea were caused by the lack of access to safe supply of water," Villar said.

Villar earlier filed Senate Bill No. 1112 or the Safe Drinking Water Act that seeks to mandate that water supplied to the public must meet the requirements established by the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water.

Under Villar’s bill, the agency will set standards for drinking water that will serve as a guide for property developers, operators of water supply systems and health and sanitation authorities in maintaining the quality of drinking water.

However, water supplied to the public "does not consistently meet the acceptable standards of quality."

Villar’s bill aims to compel water supplies to comply with the national quality standards.

Violators would be fined P3,000 to P10,000 for the first offense, and P10,000 to P20,000 or revocation of license for succeeding violations.