PHL has to invest ₧1.1T until ’30 for water, sanitation

THE Philippines needs to invest a total of P1.1 trillion to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on water supply and sanitation by 2030, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

At the launch of the Philippine Water Supply and Sanitation Master Plan (PWSSMP) on Thursday, Neda Assistant Secretary for Investment Programming Roderick M. Planta said this means an annual investment of over P100 billion is needed between 2020 and 2030.

This amount has not been invested by the country before on the water and sanitation sector, and Planta said this is the reason for the need to also provide incentives for other stakeholders in the sector.

“What we’ve been spending if you add it all up is only P5 billion. So it’s really a P95 billion gap on an annual basis,” Planta said during the launch.

Low investments have led to many problems in the water and sanitation sector. In his speech, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said only about 44 percent of households have individual connection to a proper and fully reticulated waterworks system.

He said the remaining 56 percent, or 57 million Filipinos, have to fetch water for their families from communal pipes or springs or wells up to 250 meters away.

Further, Chua said, only 18 percent of Filipinos have access to septage management services, while 13 percent have access to a sewerage system. He added over 4 million Filipinos still practice open defecation.

“These conditions expose Filipinos to higher risks of acute bloody diarrhea, cholera, typhoid fever, and other waterborne diseases,” Chua said.

“Achieving our goal of universal access to safe and sustainable water and sanitation by 2030 requires integrated interventions from the local governments, the national government, and other stakeholders. Such cooperation is at the heart of the Philippine Water Supply and Sanitation Master Plan,” he added.

Apart from the financing, the master plan also recommends the creation of a so-called apex water body that will help address the “fragmented” water supply and sanitation sector.

Planta said this would also address the financing gap in the sector. However, he said, the move will require legislation since this may combine the agencies currently in charge of various aspects of the water supply and sanitation sector.

Currently, around 30 or more agencies are in charge of the sector. Among these agencies are the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), National Irrigation Administration, and various water districts nationwide.

Without an apex body, Planta said, efforts of these agencies could overlap and the water supply and sanitation sector would continue to struggle to provide services to millions of Filipinos.

If legislation will not be forthcoming, Planta said, the government has the option to strengthen the NWRB through an executive order.

Neda supports the proposed executive order on Integrating and Coordinating Management of Water Resources by Transforming and Strengthening the National Water Resources Board into the National Water Management Council, pending the legislation of the Department of Water Resources and the Water Regulatory Commission.

“You’re creating a singular institution but amalgamating all the units that are water sector related into one coherent structure. It’s not another layer to bureaucracy per se. It’s the same people placed under the same roof,” Planta said.

Apart from financing and the apex body, the master plan aims to strengthen the regulatory environment; create and ensure effective water supply and sanitation services; balance water supply and demand; build climate resilience; manage data and information to determine baseline and gaps of investments; and drive research and development in the sector.

The master plan creates a unifying framework for planning, implementing, and funding in the sector. It also aims to not only provide safe water supply and sanitation services for all Filipinos, but also ensure that these services can withstand disasters and protect the environment.

In May, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s water stress level increased in the past 10 years.

Based on the PSA’S Water Accounts, freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources increased to 28.74 percent in 2019 from 25.48 percent in 2010.

PSA data showed that the total Fresh-water Water Withdrawals reached 94,019.21 million cubic meters (mcm) in 2019 from 83,345.23 mcm in 2010.

Further, the data showed Water Use Efficiency (WUE), or the value added per volume of water used, increased to P198.41 per cubic meter in 2019 from P126.1 per cubic meter of water used in 2010.

The creation of the Department of Water was earlier proposed to address the fragmented water administration in the country. Currently, several agencies are in charge of water administration and regulation.

Former Environment Secretary Elisea Gozon said the proposal to create a separate Department of Water has been around since the time of Former President Fidel V. Ramos. However, it was only now under the Duterte administration was it given serious attention.

Gozon said these developments could not have been more needed as the country’s water resources are already under stress.