The chairperson of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means took the cudgels for the creation of the Department of Water Resources, saying “disjointed” regulations on water management will cause supply and sanitation problems.
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, also chairman of the technical working group tasked to determine the feasibility of activating the Department of Water Resources mandated by a substitute bill, said the measure was supported by water sector stakeholders in the push for a new cabinet-level agency for water resource management.
The first task of the new department, Salceda said, would be to resolve the disjointed regulation of the sector.
Salceda made the statement during Tuesday’s Virtual Forum on the Philippine Water Sector Reform Agenda, that was attended by leading industry players, economists and civil society groups.
In his remarks to introduce House Bill 4944, which would create the DWR, Salceda assured stakeholders that “no one in the House is pushing against the bill. If we can get it prioritized, it will pass.
“All water belongs to the State, which shall develop it for the common good and the future generations. Those who use water now are borrowing it from their children. This is the guiding principle of the bill,” Salceda said.
Salceda’s bill would create an umbrella department for the water sector responsible for water resources planning, policy formulation and management of the ownership, appropriation, utilization, exploitation, development, sustainability and protection of water resources in the Philippines, except fisheries or aquaculture. The bill would also help solve disjointed regulations in the water sector with more than 30 agencies now regulating, managing and governing the water sector.
“You can’t afford to get it wrong once in water management. With 30 agencies of various capabilities regulating water resources, we will get it wrong at least once. With one empowered agency, we can take care of our water resources in a harmonized, holistic manner,” Salceda said.
He says better water resource management under the DWR bill would help deliver better access to clean water.
“Clean water for all is an inalienable right. We have to strengthen public and private investment in the water sector to get people better access to water,” Salceda added, citing that close to 10 percent of Filipinos – or 11 million – still had no access to adequate water or sanitation.