Water problems

"People can live without electricity–but not without water."

Regardless of whether our private water concessioners and the government will be able to eventually hammer out a mutually agreeable and beneficial deal, water will become a more important strategic commodity in the future. With global warming and all, it is of utmost urgency that we as a nation learn to manage our water resources more efficiently. Otherwise, the problems that we are experiencing now will just grow and worsen. As the old saying goes, people can live without electricity but not without water.

Availability of clean and potable water is actually a growing and serious worldwide problem. More than 2 billion people are having problems with water availability and much more with sanitation. Here in the Philippines, out of our total 105 million population in 2015, 7 million people still do not have access to clean water and a whopping 24 million—almost a fourth of the population—lack access to sanitation.

For now, our country does not belong to the ten worst countries when it comes to the management of water resources, but we can get there if we do not improve our water management. It is somewhat ironic that a country like ours which is surrounded by water and with sufficient amount of rainfall is experiencing water problems.

It is safe to assume that when the current contract was negotiated, the private suppliers were in a much stronger position because they had the money and the government did not. Consequently, they got more than a good deal. This is no longer the case. The government now has a lot more financial resources and can take over if that is what it really wants. The problem is whether it will be as efficient. Governments, after all, have poor records when it comes to efficiency. The temptation for the government to take over the management and distribution of water is great but it is still better that it be left in private hands so long as a fair deal could be struck. Private enterprise means, after all, a fair rate of return of investments. The operative word is fairness. It does not mean taking advantage to make a killing at the expense of the paying public. This is what the government must ensure—a fair deal.

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Although Baguio does not get chilly as often as it used to, December is usually the start when the media start some sort of a temperature watch to see how far the temperature of the city can go down from the months of December to February. Perhaps everyone would want to see if the coldest temperature officially recorded by the weather bureau on Jan. 18, 1961—6.3 degrees Centigrade—could be broken. I remember that day very well. When I woke up in the morning of that day to go to school, the whole grassy yard was frozen.

So far, the temperature has already gone down to 11.8 degrees Centigrade this month. Last year, the coldest temperature was 11.4 degrees Centigrade recorded on Jan. 14. The year 2017 recorded one of the lowest temperature in recent times at about 7.3 degrees Centigrade. People from the lowlands may be thinking that the temperature is the same in all parts of the City. This is actually not the case because in places where the elevation is higher like Santo Tomas area, it could be a couple of degrees colder.

Actually, the 6.3 degrees Centigrade recorded by the weather bureau in 1961 was not the coldest ever recorded in the City. There were much lower temperatures recorded in earlier times. There was a temperature reading of 3 degrees centigrade recorded in the first decade of the twentieth century in the Baguio Country Club.

When the first American soldiers set foot in Baguio at the turn of the last century, they sent a request to their higher headquarters to send all the blankets available because according to them, “it freezes at night in Baguio” which was an indication of the kind of temperature prevailing then. Summer could now get steamy like the lowlands but at least with much lower humidity unlike the 50s and 60s where Baguio residents could use jackets all-year round. But even with increasing temperatures, it is still the comfortable temperature of the city that is the chief attraction to local tourists who continue to flock to it in ever increasing numbers. For local tourists who wants colder temperatures, they can drive further north along the Halsema Road where a lot of Benguet vegetables are grown. It is about 2,000 feet higher than Baguio. The highest elevation of our national highway system is found there with an elevation of 7,400 feet above sea level. Temperatures there could really go down and should be quite an experience for lowland people who have not yet experienced snow. In fact, more and more people are driving further north of Baguio, ending up in Sagada which is some kind of place that has maintained its simple, tranquil and unspoiled atmosphere much like the old days of 50 to 60 years ago.

Many also venture further to the Banaue Rice Terraces then come back to Baguio via Nueva Vizcaya completing the circuit. It is a much recommended and enjoyable road trip.

As is already known by now, the city has “a new sheriff in town” in the person of Mayor Benjie Magalong who has embarked on a program to rehabilitate the crumbling tourist attractions starting with a reported P400 million to improve Burnham Park.