Drinking Water projects, imbis na ambisyosong "super regions blueprint plan"

Kung 'di ba naman puro kabobohan at puro pangungurakot ang alam na gawain ng mga taga-Malakanyang, isipin ba namang ni SINGKONG DULING ay wala palang inilaang pondo para sa mga proyektong MAIINUM na TUBIG ng ating mga kababayan!! Ipinagyabang pa ang KATANGAHAN sa isang power point presentation (SONA) ng mga "mega regions/projects! Nasaan ang ipinagmamalaki nitong mga bode-bodegang diploma't certificates......ect, ect,ect.....?

Kaya't tatlong (3x) bagsak sa IPD, FDC, Cong Rene Magtubo, Cong Mayong Aguja, Sen Ralph Recto at sa marami pang kilusang masang kakarga ng isyung ito! - doy/ipd

November 28, 006 07:47 PM Tuesday

Water crisis!

http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2006-11-28&sec=4&aid=2957
LONG queues for water, like what is being seen in some areas in Metro Manila, could be a common sight years from now unless the government rectifies its error of neglecting water projects in its ambitious “super regions” plan.

Sen. Ralph Recto yesterday stressed this as he lamented that the government’s P369.2 billion infrastructure blueprint does not “allot a single centavo for projects that would produce a single drop of drinking water.”

”There is a drought of funds for water projects in that blueprint. Water, which is a basic need for human survival, should be high on the list but the fact is , potable water projects simply evaporated from that list,” Recto said.

By project, the super regions plan earmarks P90.2 billion for roads, P51.8 billion for airports, P15.8 billion for seaports, P12.6 for irrigation, P5 billion for bridges, P180.1 billion for rail, and P13.5 billion for “other projects” which include IT (information technology) activities and the MWSS (Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System) pumping station in southern Metro Manila.

Recto urged Malacañang to correct the oversight as the country – already the second lowest in terms of per capita water availability in Southeast Asia – faces a serious water crisis when the population hits 100 million in seven years and 153 million in 23 years.

But even today, there are many places already reeling from lack of water , “a development that bodes dire political consequences, “ he said.

”Lack of water dissolves people’s trust in the government. If it is feared that the next world war will be fought over water, the next people power here can be about water too, “ he said.

Citing a Japanese government–funded study, Recto said that by 2025, water demand in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Davao, Baguio, Angeles, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Davao would have tripled to 3,995 million metric cubic meters per year from the 1995 demand of 1,303 million cubic meters , far outstripping groundwater availability of 759 million cubic meters.

At present , for lack of access to clean drinking, 500,000 Filipinos are downed yearly by diarrhea , cholera, typhoid and other water-borne diseases, “which account for three in every 10 illnesses,“ Recto said. This is not surprising as “58 percent of groundwater sampled is contaminated with coliform and needs treatment,” Recto said, quoting a 2003 World Bank study.

”That same study pegs at P3 billion a year the medical expenses, hospitalization costs and income losses caused by drinking dirty water,” Recto said. He said the plan of the MWSS to build a P5.6 billion pumping station and storage to service Las Pinas, Muntinlupa, Paranaque – which is included in the super regions’ wish list – “while a good one falls under the water distribution aspect.”

He said that experts are one in saying that the government should tap a new water source for Metro Manila and should not be solely relying on Angat. He was referring to the Bulacan dam which captures water runoff from the Sierra Madre and brings this through an underground tunnel to La Mesa Dam.