As more and more COVID-19 cases are discovered in the Philippines,\nespecially in Metro Manila, and in over 200 countries around the globe,\nensuring sufficient, safe and accessible water is more important than ever. The\nnumber of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 3,870, with 182 deaths and\ncounting. The number of detected COVID-19 cases spiked since the first local\ntransmission, and the actual number could still be bigger, just unconfirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In its technical brief \u201cWater, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Waste Management for the COVID-19 Virus\u201d, the World Health Organization (WHO) underscored that \u201cfrequent and proper hand hygiene is one of the most important measures that can be used to prevent infection with the COVID-19 virus\u201d. WHO also said that drinking water and sanitation services must be managed safely during the virus outbreak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simply put \u2013 the public needs uninterrupted water supply to\nprotect themselves. This, especially as the nation grapples with the COVID-19\ncrisis as the dry spell sets in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government guarantees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With water being essential in the anti-virus fight, government\nvouches that another water crisis is not in sight for Metro Manila and other\nMetropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) service areas. The assurance\ncomes amid apprehensions of a repeat of the water shortage crisis in the summer\nof 2019 that affected over 6.8 million Manila Water consumers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To ensure 24-hour water supply and reduce water service\ninterruptions, the MWSS has requested the National Water Resources Board (NWRB)\nto increase the water for allocation by concessionaires Manila Water and\nMaynilad from 42 to 46 cubic meters per second (CMS)<\/a>. The MWSS\nadded that its drinking water is compliant with Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet water remains elusive for many. As it is, the people\u2019s right\nto water as defined by the United Nations (UN) Committee on Economic, Social,\nand Cultural Rights General Comment No. 19 is under threat. The UN states that\n\u201cthe human right to water is indispensable for leading a healthy life in human\ndignity\u2026 a pre-requisite to the realization of all other human rights\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But amid the COVID-19 crisis and the Luzon-wide lockdown to\ncontain this, consumers continue to complain about their water service on the\ncompanies\u2019 social media hotlines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Manila Water consumers in some Quezon City and Taguig barangays complain\nof 12-hour water interruptions, and others in some Marikina, Montalban,\nAntipolo, Pasig and Cainta barangays of no connection or weak supply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maynilad, on the other hand, has forewarned its consumers \u2013 particularly\nthose in elevated areas \u2013 that they will \u201cstill experience low pressure to no\nwater supply daily\u201d as the company allegedly fine-tunes its distribution\nnetwork. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Quezon City, Valenzuela, Caloocan, Manila and Makati consumers\nreport water not being able to reach higher floors of apartments, not having\nwater to drink or for handwashing, and murky water. At worst, there is no water\nat all for several hours, days, or up to three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Worrisome water and sanitation status <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Privatization is the plague on the country\u2019s water service system\nthat has caused consumers, especially in Metro Manila, so much trouble. It has\nled to expensive and poor supply and sanitation services while boosting the\nprivate concessionaires\u2019 profits. Consumers, especially low-income families,\nhave been disadvantaged, and this becomes glaring all the more in the time of\nCOVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reports that families in\nthe National Capital Region (NCR) spent about Php668 monthly or almost 5% of\ntheir income on potable water and water services in 2015. This exceeds the\nUnited Nations Development Programme\u2019s (UNDP) recommendation that no more than\n3% of household income should be spent on water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Water for the People Network (WPN) has also found that many\nfamilies in urban poor communities still spend over Php1,000 per month on water\nor as high as 10% or more of their daily earnings. Since the start of water\nprivatization, water rates have increased seven-fold in the West Zone under\nMaynilad (Php7.21 to Php48.53\/ per cubic meter or cu. m.), and ten-fold in the\nEast Zone under Manila Water (Php4.02 to Php39.26\/cu. m.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Philippine water security is worrisome. Water rights advocates and\nenvironmentalists note that 5,663 million liters per day can be sourced from\nexisting water bodies and systems, but MWSS figures show that the country now\nfalls below the international per capita \u201cwater stress\u201d threshold of 1,700 cu.\nm. per year. It adds that the Philippines is fast approaching the \u201cwater\nscarcity\u201d threshold of 1,000 cu. m. at 1,553 cu. m. per capita availability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2017 National Demographic Health Survey reported that less\nthan 95% of households have access to improved water sources in 10 of the\ncountry\u2019s 17 regions. The UN defines \u201cimproved drinking water sources\u201d as\nsupposedly \u201cprotected by outside contamination, particularly fecal matter\u201d. The\ninternational body however at the same time agrees that these sources \u2013 that\nmay pertain to storage and pipes of varying qualities \u2013 are not always safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Access to water may also not always mean sustained availability. WPN points to the government\u2019s poor management of water sourcing and turning over distribution to private companies as the culprit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, sewerage services have been neglected. Manila Water\ncommitted 33% coverage of sewerage services and Maynilad 31% for 2017, but only\n17% of the companies\u2019 combined service areas have been covered as of 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sanitation coverage is also low at 20% as of 2018 despite\nconsumers being billed environmental and sewerage charges for the past 21\nyears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The concession agreements (CAs) between government and the water firms have allowed the companies to rake in over Php60 billion in profits in the past 15 years. In 2018, the water firms reaped Php6.6 billion each in profits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The WPN has called for government to rescind the onerous CAs which\nhave only undermined government\u2019s regulatory authority and, indeed, sovereignty\nto act in favor of the consumers. The CAs: allow charging of excessive rates\neven for undone or unfinished infrastructure; give the firms similar powers as\nthe State in allocating public property for business; create obligations for\ngovernment to pay the concessionaires as they do foreign lenders; and let firms\nsue governments for uncollected charges. The Duterte administration recently threatened\nthe water concessionaires that it would cancel the CAs, but this is proving to\nbe just another of its empty anti-oligarch rhetoric. It has also been overtaken\nby the COVID-19 pandemic, to which the Duterte government has also responded with\nmuch inefficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An urgent matter <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Water is essential to realize the right to a healthy environment\nand, thus, the right to health. Reversing water privatization and eventually\nnationalizing it is both imperative and strategic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the time of COVID-19, the State must secure the people\u2019s right\nto water and to health as among the most urgent socioeconomic measures. It is\nwelcome that the Metro Manila concessionaires have agreed to allow delayed payment\nfor water bills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But beyond this, the government should regulate or directly manage\nwater concessionaires in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon to be able to\nensure the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Efficient water supply.<\/strong> Immediately account for all\nareas that have no or problematic water connections and ensure that water is delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Safe water supply.<\/strong> Potable water is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Accessible water supply.<\/strong> Expedite the installation of\nfree water connections to unconnected households. Also, write off water bills\nfor the whole duration of the lockdown, especially for households consuming 30\ncu. m. and lower. This is to lessen pressure on household budgets and allow\ngreater room for recovery after the quarantine period.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WATER FOR THE PEOPLE NETWORK<\/p>\n POSITION PAPER | As more and more COVID-19 cases are discovered in the Philippines, especially in Metro Manila, and in over 200 countries around the globe, ensuring sufficient, safe and accessible water is more important than ever.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":9351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[2048,1937,7],"tags":[2199,347,868,33],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9350"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9362,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9350\/revisions\/9362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}