Manila Bulletin

Go jump in lake

- By JULLIE Y. DAZA

WHAT good would a state of calamity do in addressing the all-day all-night water cut-off? Not all the money in the world can create living water.

Advice to MWSS who didn’t see it coming and Manila No-Water hiding behind “operationa­l adjustment­s”: Go jump in the lake, the drier the better!

They call it a water service interrupti­on. You’re all wet in your choice of words, it’s not an interrupti­on, it’s a disruption. Go jump in the lake! That should disrupt your routine. After a dry run of days spilling over into a week we’re giving you as much as we can take.

How can the water level of La Mesa dam sink to its lowest level in 21 years without anyone noticing? A drop of so many meters does not happen overnight. Choose your date and time to take the plunge, now or later, when there won’t be enough water to drown you.

Some people are hopeful of cloud seeding. But without thick clouds massing directly over the reservoirs, there will be nothing to seed. If that’s the case, go jump in the lake if only to appease Mother Nature.

The only good news, half-baked at that, is that Maynilad is willing to share some of its supply. Truly, when? If it sounds too good to be true . . . If Maynilad has enough, where did Manila Water’s supply end up? NDRRMC and MWSS opine that it’s not the lack of water but mismanagem­ent: growing Manila Waterless’ customer base without increasing its resources (the Cardona treatment plant). In that case, go jump in the lake two times a day.

Angat Dam, by the way, is 60 years old and a day. Ten years ago the dam, part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa system, was facing collapse. Was it ever rehabilita­ted? Are we going to act and react when everything’s too late, again? Someone dive into the reservoir while there’s a bit of water left!

Now Manila No-Water’s telling us to use water – what water? – “responsibl­y and wisely,” to which we reply, do your job, drop by drop, responsibl­y and wisely, don’t blame the victim. Repent in the season of Lent, or jump into the nearest dried-up lake without surfacing, nevermore.

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