Advocates of the movement for water security on Wednesday urged the government and the private sector to address the threat of El Niño.
In a statement, Sonny Sioson, Central Luzon Rice Farmers Cooperatives chairperson, said they have already been experiencing the impact of El Niño.
“We in the private sector composed of business and civil society [groups] cannot delay. We must now unite and move with a sense of urgency to attain our elusive, important and long neglected water security,” he said.
The phenomenon has a “disastrous” effects on agriculture, he said.
He, however, said the government has failed to adopt rain harvesting as mandated under the Green Building Code.
Citing studies of the Asian Development Bank in 2013 and 2016, he blamed the water crisis on the government’s lack of good governance.
To ease the impact of El Niño, Sioson said President Rodrigo Duterte should sign an executive order to create a body to oversee the more than 30 government water-related agencies.
In addition, he said support must be given to the 18 major water basins using the integrated water resource management scheme for critical watersheds.
“Inspired by the unprecedented political will that the government demonstrated in Boracay and the war for Manila Bay, we the private sector are uniting nationally for the first time to participate in the movement for water security,” according to the movement spearheaded by Ernesto Ordonez, a former member of Ramos Cabinet. “We must address water security immediately because we have a serious global water crisis today,” Ordonez said.
READ: Full-blown El Niño drought threatens, weathermen warn
El Niño is dangerous since the Philippines is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change, he added.
He said more than 50 people die a day due to water-related diseases with nine-million people having no access to safe and potable water.
The weather bureau warned of a full-blown El Niño in the tropical Pacific, including the Philippines this year.
