In 1978, while travelling through Europe with my mother, I noticed that Europeans would buy bottled drinking water. Sure there were water fountains in most parks, but these were “sin gaz,” or natural water, which many then eschewed, preferring soda water.
I kept telling my mom that we in the Philippines were lucky that we could drink our water straight from the taps. We then referred to this free H2O as “Nawasa juice,” which was the government-owned water service at the time. FVR privatized it in the mid-90s, and divided NCR into two concession areas: Manila Water went to the Ayalas and Maynilad to the Lopezes. These were two of the richest oligarchs in the country. Lopez later sold Maynilad to a consortium led by the legendary MVP, the CEO of the Metro Pacific Group which controls power distribution (also bought from the Lopezes), telecommunications, and superhighways, among others.
Ironically, these days we buy bottled water, whether here in NCR or in the provinces. Even if the water service providers tell us that the water they bring to our taps is potable, we do not trust them enough. A whole new business has emerged out of ensuring “safe” drinking water. Clearly, I have had to eat my 1978 observation.
We know of course, that there are three essentials without which human life cannot be without: Food, water, and oxygen. These are gifts from the Creator that need to be sustainably preserved and enhanced by homo sapiens species if its existence were to continue.
Food production requires water and nitrogen from the air. A kilo of palay, for instance, requires as much as 5,000 liters of water, whether from rain or from irrigation canals. Everything that we humans eat cannot thrive without water, be it from plants or animals. And the human body requires daily doses of water, normally eight glasses full a day.
We may not realize it, and we complain only about the high service charge that the water distribution companies charge us monthly for the water it delivers to our taps, but our source of water in Metro Manila is supplied by only one: Angat Dam in Bulacan.
Unlike temperate countries where water could be sourced from the snow that melts after winter, tropical countries such as ours source our drinking water from rivers, lakes and underground aquifers. These in turn are part of natural recycling that includes rainfall trapped in clouds that replenish the same sources. We trap these through dams, purify them in filtration and treatment plants, and then allow these to flow through a network of pipes into our taps.
But because we have through generations despoiled the natural cycle that sustains our living environment, and because we have multiplied our numbers several times over, the supply of water vis a vis increasing demand is now a cause for worry.
It has become urgent for us to develop other sources of water. Angat, which flows to La Mesa Dam may no longer be sufficient in the years to come. For years on end, we have been talking about developing one in Laiban in the foothills of the Sierra Madre, but we have not gone beyond talking and planning.
Decades ago, the late Enrique Zobel proposed that we pump water from Taal Lake uphill towards Tagaytay where a treatment plant could be set up, and then allow gravity to bring it to our households. At the time it was proposed, it seemed still untimely. Now it is worth considering.
Singapore gets its water from a dam on its border with Malaysia, for which it pays. But looking into their future, they have gone into recycling storm drain water, and have now embarked on desalination of sea water as an alternative. It may cost them an arm and a leg, but who cares? It is a basic necessity. And new technological developments may just make it more affordable in the future, who knows?
Before a water system was set up in Davao in the 60s, every household had water tanks connected to their roof downspouts. And since it always rained each afternoon and early evening in Davao, when its mountains were still lush with forests, that sufficed until their water system was set up.
In Cebu City with its huge population, water supply has become critical. There was a time when Gov. Lito Osmeña proposed to tap water from the Inabanga River in Bohol and pipe these underwater in the narrow straits that separate the two provinces. But the Boholanos would not agree, and till now, alternative sources of water for greater Cebu households remain to be tapped.
We can go on and on, and cite so many other urban centers across the country where water is becoming a future, if not present problem. In my Butuan City hometown, the taps yield so little water, yellowish at that, because of a botched privatization deal concocted by the recently elected mayor.
We cannot produce enough rice to feed our huge population because we have not irrigated our fields enough. Of the 4.5 million hectares of paddy we cultivate, only 1.7 million hectares are irrigated; the rest depend on rainfall. So each time a severe El Niño visits, we have a major rice crisis.
Unlike the Indo-Chinese peninsula (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand) where the headwaters from the Himalayas flow through the mighty Mekong, the Chao Phraya and Tonle Sap, we have narrow and shallow rivers.
Our Laguna de Bay is so near, yet we have allowed it to decay with the mindless proliferation of fishpens which while supplying us with bangus and tilapia, has become toxic with fish excreta. A Belgian firm sealed a deal with the Arroyo administration to desilt the lake, but because the PNoy administration declared it to be a corrupt deal in “a basta” fashion, we lost the opportunity to make it deeper, causing instant flooding for the metropolis.
The problem may have been overlooked, or the need for another dam for NCR water may have been delayed by inaction or plain mindlessness. We expect the Duterte administration, now on its second year, to do something positive and decisive.
It has launched a new Build, Build, Build initiative focused on modernizing our public infrastructure, another victim of bureaucratic inaction through decades of neglect. Let it also focus on water, one of three essentials of human survival.
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Another good friend passed away, on the first anniversary of the reign of Rodrigo Duterte whom he helped immensely to become president.
Atty. Lory Ata, who served as election lawyer and legal advisor of the President, whose sage advice our President respected, passed into the ages after a long battle with the big C.
Had it not been for his declining health, Lory would have been a major figure in the Duterte Cabinet. He opted to serve as a PCSO director and devote the rest of his life to helping the charitable institution expand its services to the needy.
Farewell, dear friend. It was a privilege to have worked with you.