Angat Dam’s water allocation for irrigation has been cut to 35 meters per second from 40 to reserve more supply for Metro Manila, the National Water Resources Board said Sunday.
NWRB executive director Sevillo David Jr. told dzBB the cut will not affect farmland operations because in May the water needed for irrigation normally goes down as farmers are about to harvest their crops.
Angat Dam irrigates several farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga.
David made his statement even as the Sulong Dignidad party-list said the Philippines’ water concession law must be repealed so it could provide stiffer penalties to the companies that fail to comply with distribution agreements.
“We need to add a provision imposing clear-cut penalties for the concessionaires who fail to comply with the concession agreement,” said Sulong Dignidad president and first nominee Rico Paolo Quicho.
In a resolution dated March 28, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System ordered its Regulatory Office to study the imposition of penalties on Manila Water Co. Inc. when it failed to provide water 24 hours a day to customers.
David said they communicated with the National Irrigation Authority about the reduced allocation of water for irrigation, and it agreed.
“They [NIA] said it would still meet their needs, David said.
