IN light of the looming El Niño phenomenon or the long dry spell, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed all government agencies to strictly implement water conservation measures.
In Memorandum Circular No. 22 dated 7 June 2023 and signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, the President orders the Water Resource Management Office (WRMO) and its network of agencies to take the lead in implementing water conservation measures to avert a possible water crisis amid the dry spell in the next months.
The chief executive also directed all government agencies, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and state universities and colleges, to “identify and implement specific quantifiable and attainable water conservation measures that will result in ten percent (10%) water volume reduction of their respective first quarter (January to March 2023) water consumption.”
The President also ordered the Local Water Utilities Administration, National Water Resources Board, and the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage System, while private water service providers (WSPs) are enjoined, to submit to the WRMO a monthly supply-demand projection to determine possible deficit in water supply in the near future.
“National government-run WSPs are hereby directed, and local government-run WSPs are hereby encouraged, to immediately complete their projects to reduce non-revenue water and upgrade their distribution pipes. Local government units are encouraged to process the requests of WSPs for waterworks within a reasonable period of time,” the President said in the memorandum circular.
Marcos also said the WRMO “shall identify strategies towards water conservation measures and provide quarterly updates to the Office of the President, through the Office of the Executive Secretary, on the progress thereof.
