The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), citing a report by the Water Resources Management Office (WRMO, said the cost of potable water supply has been slashed by over 50 percent for remote barangays across the country.
Citing a report of the WRMO which operates under its umbrella, the DENR said residents of the country’s most isolated barangays are now accessing safe, potable water at costs reduced by more than 50 percent.
With the barangays getting drinking water in-situ, retail price of drinking water was slashed to a fixed P15 per five-gallon container or nearly half the commercial rate.
For residents served by local water districts, the WRMO has provided high-grade refilling equipment.
In 2025, the equipment had been installed in remote water districts in Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Leyte, Negros Oriental and Cagayan.
The barangays collected the fees which were then used for maintenance and operation of the water system.
Meanwhile, remote island-communities in Romblon, Sorsogon, Occidental Mindoro, Bohol and Zamboanga City who previously paid between P50 and P70 for a five-gallon container are now accessing safe water for just P20 to P25 under the WRMO’s Water Filtration Program.
In 2026, two additional sites are already operational in Bohol and Bulacan while the remaining sites are nearing completion, such as those selected in Zamboanga City, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan and Eastern Samar.
DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna attributed to the operational gains to the vision of the Marcos Jr. administration, adding that the results were the product of the Chief Executive’s direct marching orders to improve processes and strengthen monitoring.
“The creation of the WRMO under the President’s mandate has allowed us to move from being mere regulators to being systems-builders,” he added.
The agency has utilized scientific precision to secure long-term supply through precision surveys:
As of May 2025, the DENR has completed 66 georesistivity site surveys at no cost to local governments, a technical service valued at P23.1 million. These surveys identify viable groundwater resources before drilling, which reduces uncertainty and minimizes potential risks” for community projects.
Alternative Source Development: The agency has successfully launched the Infiltration Gallery Project, which taps into naturally filtered subsurface river flows (hyporheic zone) to provide sustainable water for 79,420 beneficiaries.
Geospatial Oversight: Utilizing the National Natural Resource Geospatial Database, the DENR now maps all natural assets to ensure that national infrastructure development is grounded in hard data.
By the end of 2026, the WRMO’s cumulative efforts are projected to provide safe water access to a total of 440,904 individuals nationwide.
The 2026 phase is backed by a P256.9 million allocation to reach 220,027 new beneficiaries.
