MANILA (UCAN): Metro Manila and its surrounding areas face severe water shortages, forcing many residents to line up to fetch water from public faucets and the fire department in the early hours of the day.
Hundreds of residents in poor areas of Navotas City, Quezon City, in Metro Manila have been queuing to wait for the fire department to fill their buckets with water; some as early as 3.00am in order to beat the morning traffic.
The El Niño phenomenon and the dry season have caused the problem with water supply receding in the main local reservoir.
“I wake up a few minutes before 3.00am to get water. We have no water at home, so we need to fetch water from a public faucet along a sidewalk,” a Manila resident and postman, Gideon Carmona, said on July 12. He said he first fetches water for his children, so they can go to school on time.
“I have two children in high school and they need to be there at 7:30am So, I fetch water for them first. I, as a father, am only secondary,” Carmona said.
Hundreds of residents in poor areas of Navotas City, Quezon City, in Metro Manila have been queuing to wait for the fire department to fill their buckets with water; some as early as 3.00am in order to beat the morning traffic
Jenylyn Mesonia, a mother of three, said she needed to be at the hotel where she works before 7.00am, but cannot do so because she needs to line up for water first and then cook for her children.
“Normally, when I get up, I prepare their breakfast. But, now I need to queue in the water line. So, I end up late for work,” Mesonia explained.
Maynilad Water Services, one of the largest private water concessionaires in the Philippines, says its customers face shortages due to low supply in the Angat Dam, a reservoir northeast of the capital.
The raw water allocation for Maynilad has been brought down to 48 cubic metres per second due to the dam falling below its minimum operating level, the it said on July 12.
“The allocation was lowered in an effort to preserve water in the Angat Dam, given the possible worsening effects of El Niño in the coming months. However, this also means that Maynilad will get less supply than it needs to sustain normal service levels,” Maynilad added.
The Health Department has also warned consumers to cover their water containers to prevent mosquito breeding.
They don’t have money to pay their bills. It is easy to give advice but the reality is different
Bishop Bagaforo
“Please store water in clean and covered containers. Mosquitoes may use your stored waters as breeding places,” Teodoro Herbosa, the Health secretary, said at a press conference on July 11. He reminded residents that water may become contaminated because of mineral deposits in pipes when the water supply resumes.
“Don’t drink the water from the faucets. Buy purified drinking water until the supply resumes normally. Drinking discoloured water may cause cholera and other diseases,” Herbosa added.
However, Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, head of Caritas Philippines, pointed out that buying bottled potable water would affect the poor. “They don’t have money to pay their bills. It is easy to give advice but the reality is different.”
Bishop Bagaforo said Caritas had started collecting bottled water to be distributed among people in slums.
“We are thinking of the children and the elderly who need clean water but don’t have money to buy potable water. We will respond by giving them water to drink…. a simple gesture but essential at this time,” the bishop said.
