Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 11) — A bill creating a new agency that will oversee concerns and policies on the country’s water supply is bound for plenary after two committees in the lower chamber approved it on Tuesday.
The still unnumbered bill consolidated 35 measures that lobbied for the new entity. It states that the agency will be called the “Department of Water Resources (DWR).”
The DWR will be responsible for the “comprehensive and integrated planning, policy formulation and management of water resources.” Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Salceda chaired the technical working group which was composed of the Committee on Government Reorganization and the Committee on Public Works and Highways, that worked on the bill.
Under the measure, the Metro Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System, Local water Utilities Administration, Laguna Lake Development Authority, Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and the national Irrigation Administration will also be placed under the new department as attached agencies. The bill also seeks to create a Water Regulatory Commission which will serve as an independent regulatory body.
The DWR will also take over certain functions of other government agencies such as the Local and Interior department’s water supply and sanitation unit, the Environment department’s Manila Bay coordinating Office and the Flood Management Planning and sediment functions of the Public Works and Highways Department.
Calls for a water department surfaced after parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, suffered from a “water crisis” earlier this year, due to the dwindling supply from the area’s main source, Angat Dam. Residents continue to experience the effects of this crisis with ongoing water service interruptions which are eyed to extend until next year.
Currently, it is the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) under the Environment Department that oversees the country’s water resources. If the new bill is enacted into law the NWRB will become the agency’s core organization.
The new agency will also have five undersecretaries in charge of Resource na governance, Inland Water and Water for Agriculture and Fisheries, Resource Development, Planning and policy and Missionary Waters and Special Concerns.
The DWR may also enter into deals for water-related projects.
In his State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte called for lawmakers to pass a bill that would create a water department to mitigate the damage brought by climate change.
CNN Philippines’ correspondent Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report.
