MANILA, Philippines — Amid a looming water crisis in the country, results of a recent survey released on Thursday found that only seven in every 10 households in the Philippines have access to running water.
A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted last Dec. 10 to 14 found that only 67 percent of Filipino households have access to running or piped water, translating to an estimated 17 million out of over 25 million households in the country.
The 67 percent is composed of 58 percent who said their running water is billed and nine percent who said it was not billed.
For those whose running water is billed, their average expense is at P320 per month. It was highest among those in Metro Manila at P500 per month, followed by those in the Visayas at P340, the rest of Luzon at P312 and Mindanao at P300.
Those whose running water was not billed said they spend an average of P300 per month. It was highest among respondents in Metro Manila at P400 per month, followed by those in the rest of Luzon and the Visayas at P300 and those in Mindanao at P225.
The survey had 1,200 respondents and an error margin of +/- 2.8 percent.
The United Nations recognizes access to water and sanitation as a human right.
No water crisis
A ranking official of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System gave assurance there will be no water crisis in 2023 but admitted that the MWSS cannot confirm nor deny the warning of former MWSS chairman Ramon Alikpala that a crisis was likely next year.
In a radio interview, MWSS Deputy Administrator Jose Dorado Jr. said that based on the projection, the level of Angat Dam will reach 197 meters or 2011 meters by the end of December.
“We are doing this (simulation) on a monthly basis that is why this April, we will conduct another simulation to determine if there will be a water crisis next year,” he said. He added that as of 6 a.m. on Thursday, the water level of Angat Dam was at 198.49 meters.
On the other hand, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) is set to decide today whether to grant the 52 cubic meters per second allocation being requested by the Maynilad Water Service Inc. and Manila Water.
The NWRB has earlier approved 50 cubic meters per second allocation for the two water concessionaires until April 15, 2023.
El Niño
A ranking official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) yesterday identified at least 16 provinces to be severely hit by the El Niño phenomenon as the DA revived the inter-agency task force to address the possible impact of the drought on the agriculture sector.
In an interview, Agriculture Assistant Secretary and deputy spokesman Rex Estoperez said the 16 provinces include areas in Central Visayas (Region 7), Eastern Visayas (Region 8), Zamboanga peninsula (Region 9), Caraga (Region 13) and Calabarzon (Region 4-A) — some of which are known big producers of palay.
“These are top producing provinces but there are also vulnerable areas because of climate change. We need to identify these vulnerable areas. Just like Mindanao, it is now affected by the flooding and typhoons,” Estoperez said.
President Marcos has ordered the revival of the inter-agency El Niño Task Force to minimize the damage of the dry spell to the farm sector.
“The task force will be represented by representatives from bureaus and attached agencies,” Estoperez said. – Bella Cariaso