President Marcos Jr. is looking for a new government agency to efficiently manage the country’s water resources for drinking and irrigation needs.
“Water is too important. Supply, our freshwater supply, is generally going down and irrigation is not as widespread as it should be,” the President said state television during the recent Legislative-Executive Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting.
The Chief Executive hinted that he would support a bill proposing the creation of a Department of Water Services.
“The problem is too large that we need to have a team of experts directing the 20 different concerned agencies under one roof to ensure that they would manage our water resources efficiently,” Marcos explained.
There are pending bills in both legislative chambers for the creation of the Department of Water Resources and a Water Regulatory Commission.
Lawmakers, however, said that to save money, a commission should be created instead of a full department.
In his State of the Nation Address in July, Marcos mentioned the creation of the Department of Water Resources in his legislative agenda that he presented to Congress.
He said the government would also look into the “precarious” freshwater supply situation in the country, especially in the urban areas. He added that many water supply systems date back to the 1950s, and they must now be rehabilitated and improved.
The new department will implement the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), which Mr. Marcos has proposed as the strategic framework for national water management, policy making, and planning.
The President described the IWRM as “an approach to promote the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources to maximize economic and social welfare without compromising our ecosystem.”
Meanwhile, the president also discussed at the LEDAC job generation, trade policy, pandemic recovery efforts, and the need to improve tourism services and infrastructure.
The proposed DMR supposedly will set policy and implement structural reforms on water management and address supply issues.
In a meeting with officials from Isabela, Marcos also discussed several programs to address agricultural challenges in the region, including building new dams and rehabilitating the existing ones.
They talked about the enhancement of post-production and irrigation facilities, as well renewable energy.
The creation of the proposed department is among the priority pieces of legislation of the Marcos administration.
Senator Grace Poe in July refiled a bill seeking the creation of the Department of Water Resources.
Under Poe’s bill, the DWR will be the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, monitoring, and administrative entity of the executive branch of the government responsible for the comprehensive and integrated development and management of the water resources of the Philippines.
It will also manage the optimal allocation of water resources among competing uses to achieve universal access to safe, adequate and affordable water supply, sanitation, and sewage services.