As the Philippines strive to win the battle against the COVID-19 virus, many Filipinos also struggle to endure the lack of access to life’s most necessity – water. Considering that one of the most effective ways of stopping the spread of the virus is through proper hygiene and sanitation, the state of our country’s water supply is alarming.
Unsafe Water: A Threat to Life of many Filipinos
In 2015, Katrina Arianne Ebora, part of UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene program in the Philippines, said that more than 30 million Filipinos have been facing the problem of accessing sanitation facilities. In addition, 8% of the country’s population doesn’t have access to these sanitation facilities and resorted to unhygienic spaces. One can significantly feel these situations in urban slums where lack of sanitation facilities is the problem. Social distancing and clean surroundings are also challenging to achieve, which can worsen the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unsustainable Water Source
As the population of Metro Manila grows, the demand for water supply also increases. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), with the help of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), they have estimated that the total groundwater demand or withdrawal throughout the country grew from 4.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 1988 to 5.8 bcm in 1994. The initial estimation reveals an average annual increase of 5.3%, and the trend would most likely continue in the next few years because of the country’s increasing population.
As the country experiences El Niño, the decrease in water supply has been felt by a lot of places. One of these places is Metro Manila, which has an estimated population of 12 million Filipinos. As reported in May 2021, Maynilad, one of the city's top water providers, has started the laying of a primary pipeline which is expected to be finished in the latter part of 2023. This project aims to create additional supply to meet the growing water demand and lower the dependency on Angat Dam, which is currently the primary source of water in the Metropolis and its nearby provinces.
Universal Response
The United Nations Philippines made targets to combat the water crisis. Being the 6th goal of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which is to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, one of those targets is to give access to safe and affordable drinking water for all and achieve it by 2030. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF and UN-Habitat have been working and appealing for support and fundings with their partner organizations to help reach those communities who have difficulty accessing water. In line with all the responses and solutions, having equitable access to safe and sustainable water will probably lead to long-term economic, social, and environmental benefits that will surely make a difference to the lives of billions of Filipinos, especially in this time of pandemic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by: Shaira Mapoy
Layout and Design by: Ian Ramos
REFERENCES:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3jana/a-lack-of-clean-water-and-sanitation-in-the-philippines-kills-55-people-every-day - Unsafe Water
https://www.bworldonline.com/maynilad-says-p10-b-water-treatment-plant-done-by-2023/ - News | Response of Maynilad
https://psa.gov.ph/content/water-resources - News | Water Demand Estimation
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/ - UN targets and response
Comments