Arroyo f iles bill proposing water, irrigation dep’t

SPEAKER Gloria M. Arroyo has filed a bill creating a new government office to rationalize the country’s water, irrigation, sewage and sanitation systems.

House Bill (HB) 8068, or the “Department of Water, Irrigation, Sewage and Sanitation Resource Management Act of 2018,” seeks to consolidate the functions carried out by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

The government agencies are controlled by three separate offices - the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Office of the President.

This present set-up resulted in a “poorly coordinated or even conflicting implementation of national policies and plans... thereby resulting in backlogs in the provision of water supply and sanitation services,” Ms. Arroyo said in the explanatory note.

If passed into law, the department will be mandated to develop policies to provide universal access to safe, adequate, affordable and sustainable water supply, irrigation, sewage and sanitation services.

The Department will also be in charge of protecting and conserving water resources and managing its ownership, appropriation, utilization, exploitation, and development.

It will also assume all obligations of the relevant parts of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Metro Manila Development Authority, NIA, NWRB, and the DPWH, through its attached agencies, LWUA and MWSS.

The office will be led by a Secretary and five undersecretaries to handle finance, administration, planning and engineering, regulatory and financial assistance programs, as well as operations.

At present, there are two similar bills filed in the chamber — HBs 2457 and 4995, authored by Representatives Arthur C. Yap and Estrellita B. Suansing, respectively.

Senators Ralph G. Recto and Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares, have each filed Senate Bill 933 and 1217, proposing to create instead the Water Regulatory Commission. Both the earlier House bills and the Senate bills mentioned remain pending at the committee level. —