Liliw, Laguna—The local government of Liliw hopes to solve the town’s water problems with a P55-million total rehabilitation project of its water system through a loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines.
Liliw Mayor Erickson Sulibit explained to all barangay chairmen of the town their situation and the dwindling water sources in Barangay Kanlurang Bukal along Mount Banahaw.
Apart from the LandBank loan, the mayor said the Department of the Interior and Local Government will provide an additional P11 million from the Assistance to Municipality Fund, which will be allocated to renovating the local Water Treatment Facility that in turn reuses river water to provide potable water to residents.
Sulibit said the water distribution pipeline was the problem because in addition to its present falling water pressure, it should have been raised to accommodate 33 barangays with over 30,000 families.
According to a local government study, it appears that instead of water levels rising during the rainy season, it is actually decreasing as opposed to the summer season, the mayor said.
Climate change is believed to be the source of the problem in Mount Banahaw, where five barangays suffered a water shortage more than five months ago.
The villages of Daniw, Dita, Dagatan, Malabo Kalantukan, and Bayate were reported to have low water pressure. In addition, the neighboring towns of Majayjay, Nagcarlan, Rizal, Lucban, and the city of San Pablo are now experiencing poor water flow from their springs.
Sulibit said the irrigation rehab project would immediately solve his town’s problems as they have to lay down more than 22 kilometers of new pipelines from water source, which they expect to complete in 10 months.
The mayor is still studying a declaration of a state of calamity so Liliw can use its calamity fund, while also communicating with the leadership of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources and other government agencies on the issue.
