Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 1) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. greenlit the creation of the Water Resource Management Office (WRMO) to manage supply and respond to environmental issues, Malacañang said Wednesday.
The president said topping the WRMO’s agenda are reducing dependence on groundwater and deep wells, as well as managing surface water supply.
“That’s as far as I could tell. We have sufficient… There’s enough water in the Philippines, hindi lang natin ginagamit, tinatapon natin [but we are just wasting it],” Marcos said during a multisectoral meeting in Malacañan Palace.
The WRMO will be under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for now, pending the creation of the Department of Water Resources, which is among the president’s priority bills as mentioned during the State of the Nation Address in July 2022.
The office’s main functions include formulating and ensuring the implementation of the Integrated Water Management Plan (IWMP), which will integrate various plans of different agencies.
Malacañang said an executive order will be crafted to enable the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Local Water Utilities Administration, and other water-related agencies of the DENR to have a collaborative mechanism under the WRMO for water management programs.
“It has to be cohesive in the sense that kailangan ‘yung recommendation ng management office sinusundan [we need to follow the recommendation of the management office],” Marcos said.
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