CEBU, Philippines — Water is the very essence of life, and without it, survival becomes uncertain. In Cebu City, a highly urbanized area in the southern Philippines, water scarcity has evolved into a critical issue—one that challenges local leaders, residents, and, most especially, farmers who rely on it for their livelihood.
When the El Niño phenomenon intensified early last year, Cebu City declared a water supply crisis on April 2, 2024, after the prolonged dry spell left 28 upland barangays under a state of calamity. However, beyond the evident environmental factors, political disputes and bureaucratic delays have been cited as key contributors to the worsened water situation.
This raised a pressing question: Did Cebu City face a genuine water shortage, or was it merely suffering from administrative setbacks and political repercussions?
How it began
On a scorching day in mid-May 2024, Emilio Secretaria stood on his four-hectare farm in Barangay Sudlon 2, Cebu City, surveying the damage. The relentless heat had shrunk his crops, rendering them unfit for sale. The leaves were brown and dry, the soil cracked, and the once-reliable water impounding areas had completely dried up.
Faced with mounting losses, Secretaria chose to give away his remaining produce for free. People arrived in droves to collect the unsellable tomatoes, grateful yet unaware of the gravity of the crisis.
This was the worst dry spell they’ve faced since 2010, Secretaria lamented, recalling that although they had experienced El Niño before, their three water catchments had never dried up entirely—until March 2024.
Despite efforts to develop their own water sources, Secretaria admitted that access to the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) distribution line would have been a welcome relief.
“Nagbuhat rami og amo-a nga water source. Naa mi natural spring diri nga katong di jud mahubsan bisan katong mga last pa jud nga init nga nahitabo diri, so mao to among gihimong tangke,” Secretaria explained.
The farmers, through their organization, built their own water tank system funded from their own pockets, ensuring at least minimal water supply. Still, between March and May, Secretaria estimated losses nearing half a million pesos.
The Bureaucratic bottleneck
Former Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) Chairman Jose Daluz III disclosed that one of the major hurdles in providing water to upland areas was the prolonged delay in the approval of permits.
A year before the declaration of the water crisis, Daluz revealed that they had already allocated funds for excavation and had awarded the contract to a contractor.
“Everything was already in place. The only thing we wanted to get was the excavation permit, but we never got it for a year—about 16 months,” Daluz said.
He further disclosed that multiple permits for nine barangays, essential for infrastructure expansion, remained unsigned for more than a year—stalling crucial projects and exacerbating the crisis. He believed the delay hindered their ability to store water ahead of the anticipated El Niño impact.
Daluz added that the situation could have been remedied if desalinated water, which was also delayed due to unapproved permits, had been available. He explained that MCWD had targeted to operate this by September of 2024 after applying for permits in March.
Dismissed Mayor Michael Rama, however, defended his administration as he argued that desalination
was too costly and would burden consumers. As such, he insisted that the crisis declaration was necessary to prompt action.
Rama, who has been in the political scene since 1992, said that Cebu City has had underlying water challenges, which include saltwater intrusion due to groundwater extraction. He urged the intervention of the National Government, saying these problems remained unresolved.
“At the end of the day, the crisis must be confronted; otherwise, the people and the economy of Metro Cebu will suffer,” Rama stated.
Rama further denied allegations that he delayed signing permits, asserting that they had not even reached his office for approval.
“Wa gyud naabot nga papel. Ayaw siya (Daluz) pataka nga ipasa, ipahid nila nako ang water crisis,” he stressed.
However, incumbent Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia contradicted Rama’s claims, asserting that the permit applications were well-documented and even brought to the attention of the city council.
“It had to take me sitting down as mayor to sign it,” Garcia said.
The water crisis declaration
When Rama declared the water crisis, Daluz argued that Cebu City did not lack water, but rather the infrastructure to distribute and store it effectively. He acknowledged, however, that the declaration expedited emergency procurement efforts to provide temporary relief to affected communities.
Rama, for his part, said that the declaration of the water crisis was his way of asserting his mayoralty position to change how the MCWD operates. He noted that by that time, there had already been pilferage in MCWD that hadn’t been addressed.
“No matter (how) they keep on telling that it’s only 30, 40 (percent of pilferage)… it’s still pilferage,” said Rama.
Garcia, on the other hand, admitted that the “not-so-good” relationship between the MCWD and the Cebu City Government had worsened the water crisis, particularly between Rama and Daluz. The feud came at the worst time, coinciding with the worst El Niño they had experienced in MCWD’s history, Daluz said.
Daluz, once a political ally of Rama, attributed their falling out to several disagreements, including issues surrounding MCWD’s privatization and leasing agreements with the Cebu City government.
Further, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) confirmed that Cebu City experienced prolonged dry spells; however, the heat index did not exceed previous records.
Engineer Al Quiblat, chief of PAGASA-Mactan, stated that although Cebu City had experienced the worst El Niño in the past decade, their observatory records showed no irregular movement in the heat index compared to previous years.
However, he noted that the duration of the El Niño in Cebu City was longer, based on the number of “below-normal rainfalls” recorded. He attributed the lesser rainfall to the water crisis declaration.
Moving forward
Despite the political back-and-forth, MCWD is now focusing on sustaining the dams, including the Lusaran Dam, which generates at least 30,000 cubic meters per day. The goal is to increase its capacity to benefit most residents in the North District, which covers the farthest areas of the city.
Following successive rains in the past few months, Secretaria mentioned that their production had gradually returned to normal around August 2024. They have also begun storing water in preparation for El Niño, learning from past experiences.
Also, MCWD and the Cebu City Government finally broke ground on a long-overdue water expansion project on September 3, 2024. Expected to be completed by February 2025, the project aims to provide direct water connections to 5,000 households across nine upland barangays—offering a long-term solution to the water woes.
For now, the arrival of the rainy season has allowed farmers like Secretaria to gradually recover and rebuild their water reserves. Reflecting on the challenges they faced, Secretaria expressed hope that lessons learned from the crisis would lead to better preparedness in the future.
“We have so much water; we just did not contain it,” Daluz admitted, emphasizing the need for infrastructure improvements.
As Cebu City moves forward, the water crisis serves as a stark reminder that proactive planning and cooperation between government agencies and stakeholders are crucial to ensuring sustainable water management—before another crisis strikes. —/ATO (FREEMAN)
NOTE: This story was produced under the "Covering Climate: Qualifying Environmental Journalists in the Philippines" project, which is financed by the German Embassy Manila and implemented by Deutsche Welle Akademie.