MANILA (UCAN): Expensive pipe water systems and corruption are among the main reasons behind a lack of clean water in Filipino households, residents grappling with the problem said reacting to a government report.
“Almost 11 million families do not have access to clean water yet. The water source for 11 million families is almost unsafe,” Sevillo David, Jr., the executive director of the National Water Resource Board said in an interview with ABS-CBN on March 20, and many are forced to rely on water from “unprotected sources” like deep wells and springs.
Official data from 2020 showed the Philippines had 26.3 million families.
David claimed that lack of water results in poor sanitation that forced some families to defecate in the open risking water and soil pollution.
“They can’t help it. Of course, if there is no water, families will have no choice but to defecate in the open,” he added.
Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, the head of Caritas Philippines, said the clean water crisis is a serious problem, so the agency has been involved in clean water projects since 2015, especially constructing deep wells for families.
Almost 11 million families do not have access to clean water yet. The water source for 11 million families is almost unsafe
Sevillio David Jr.
“More than 50,000 people have benefited from this project. But we are prioritising those areas that were hit by typhoons and really have no water… we cannot solve this water crisis alone,” Bishop Bagaforo explained.
There is “still so much to be done,” he said.
“Our politicians, for several years, have been promising they would improve our water supply. But until now, we barely get enough to use for ourselves, for our animals and plants,” Rolando Laceda, a resident of Guinobatan Albay, south of the capital Manila, lamented.
The 56-year-old father of three said the water ration in his area is available between 4:00am to 7:00am, and then again at 11:00pm.
“I wake up very early to save water using our five big buckets but still it is not enough as my three children need to take a bath before going to school,” Laceda said, noting that the children almost finish the water he saves in the morning.
“Usually, I take a bath by midnight so that my children can take a bath in the morning,” said Laceda who works in a shoe selling and repair shop. His wife is a homemaker who earns some income from making and selling cupcakes.
Our politicians, for several years, have been promising they would improve our water supply. But until now, we barely get enough to use for ourselves, for our animals and plants
Rolando Laceda
Despite the lack of supply, Laceda said he pays over 1,000 pesos [$139] per month for water from the state-run ration point.
To get water piped to his home, he will need to pay 500 pesos [$69] per foot of metal water pipe, which he cannot afford.
There are millions of families like the Lacedas who struggle daily to get clean water.
Jingle Rebondon, also a resident of Albay, admitted that he and his brother, Roel, sometimes defecate in the Tagas River because they have no water in their toilets.
“It’s not all the time but certainly we’ve done it because we don’t have water in our comfort room [toilet]. There’s no pipeline that connects us to the main pipe along the road. It’s too expensive,” he said.
Rebondon said the water point is about w kilometer away, and due to the expensive system, he cannot afford to get piped water at home.
43 million people [39 per cent] lack access to safely managed household sanitation facilities
Water.org
The water crisis situation has not changed much in the past years. In 2021, out of 109 million people, 57 million, or 52 per cent of the country’s population lacked access to reliable water, according to Water.org, a non-profit organisation battling the water crisis.
The group said in its report that “43 million people [39 per cent] lack access to safely managed household sanitation facilities.”
The report said, “Despite its growing economy, the Philippines faces significant challenges in terms of water and sanitation access. The country is rapidly urbanising, and its growing cities struggle to provide new residents with adequate water and sanitation services.”
Corruption is also blamed for the poor state of water and sanitation in the country.
The Philippines was ranked 116th among 180 nations in Corruption Perception Index 2022 by Berlin-based Transparency International.
In 2019, anti-corruption lawyer, Cyril Ramos, claimed the country has lost around 700 billion pesos [$96.4 billion], or around 20 per cent of the national budget to corruption per annum, ABS-CBN reported.
Poverty is also cited as a driving factor behind the lack of access to clean water.
The Philippines Statistics Agency reported in 2022 that about 18.1 per cent or about 19.99 million Filipinos lived below the poverty line.
