Water shortage, disasters, poverty, unemployment

IN the wake of the recent water shortage that hit the East Zone of Metro Manila, followed by warnings that the country will have a very hot summer because of the El Niño phenomenon, last week’s Cabinet meeting in Malacañang discussed several proposals aimed at solving problems related to water and the weather.

A proposal to create a Department of Water was discussed at the meeting. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, as early as last month, had proposed such a department, under a plan that would include all the various measures designed to ensure an adequate water supply in the country.

The proposed department would also attend to the water needs of Philippine agriculture which has already suffered damage estimated at 15.05 billion because of El Niño. The plan calls for the dredging of waterways, replacement of tunnels and aqueducts, installation of water tank systems in government hospitals, and funding for the establishment of water treatment plants.

The Cabinet meeting discussed a proposal for a Task Force to End Hunger. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles recalled that the House of Representatives

had approved his Zero Hunger Bill, HB 7193, in August, 2018, but it was too late for the Senate to consider it before Congress adjourned. The administration is now considering the creation of a Task Force to End Hunger.

Another proposal at the Cabinet meeting was for a Department of Disaster Resilience, to help the nation meet and endure the ill effects of so many natural disasters that have hit the country in recent months – a succession of tropical storms that brought floods and caused landslides, earthquakes hitting various parts of the country, volcanic eruptions that forced mass evacuations.

While we are in the middle of these discussions on national problems and coming up with various recommendations to solve them, it would be a good idea for the administration to devote its attention to the very old problem of poverty and employment.

We already have programs like the Conditional Cash Transfer to help the poorest families among us, but the best way to meet this problem is still to provide jobs for all who seek it, without having to go abroad. That would be a big part of a program to end and solve the problem of poverty in our country.