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Solon says 'looming' water crisis a 'rehashed threat'


A party-list lawmaker on Friday expressed doubt over the reported looming water crisis, saying it could be just a ploy to impose a water rate hike or drive indigenous peoples away from their ancestral lands.

"A looming water crisis that is four decades, more or less? Or, is it just a ploy to evict the Dumagats and Remontados indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands or again impose a water rate hike?" Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said in a statement.

Zarate, who described the supposed impending water crisis as "rehashed threat" by water concessionaire Maynilad, said the construction of dams to increase water supply may displace indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands and impose a hike in the water rate.

"[T]he Laiban Dam project, the parent of the Kaliwa-Kanan dam proposals, has been on and off since the Martial Law years of the dictator [Ferdinand] Marcos and even then they were saying the same thing that the dam would be the solution the supposed looming Metro Manila's water crisis," he said.

Citing an article from Bulatlat.com, Zarate, who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, said two diversion tunnels were built in 1984, but the project was left unfinished after Marcos was removed from power and due to strong opposition from indigenous peoples.

During the Arroyo administration, the revival of the project was pushed aggressively after a $1 billion technical assistance loan was secured from the Asian Development Bank, but was eventually cancelled in 2008.

In 2009, the San Miguel Bulk Water Company Inc. proposed to continue the project, but it did not push through.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), in 2011, began collecting “advanced tariffs” from consumers for the Laiban Dam Project, which covers the Kaliwa River basin in Rizal and the Kanan River in Quezon province.

Now renamed as the New Centennial Water Source (NCWS), the dam project is expected to supply 2,400 million liters of water per day and generate 30 megawatts of hydropower.

According to MWSS, it will prioritize the construction of the P18.78-billion Kaliwa Dam, which is expected to be finished by 2022. The NCWS will be fully operational by 2027.

However, Zarate said the project may only pose additional threats.

"As it is, this claim of water crisis is alarming. However, it is also a cause of even more concerns the possible displacement of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands and the harmful effects of this project to our environment. We may consider a congressional investigation on this so that all stakeholders will be heard," he said.

Instead of building mega dams, Zarate said the government should explore other viable options to ensure water supply.

“[The] government could also develop the existing water reservoirs, implement an efficient water distribution system and facilities that do not pose adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts," he said.

"This so-called 'water crisis' will not be solved with the government continuing its privatization policy, that caters mainly to the profit-seeking big business. What we need now is the nationalization of the water industry and the implementation of a pro-people water agenda," Zarate added.

The MWSS on Thursday clarified that there will be no shortage of water supply in Metro Manila in the years to come.

"Hindi totoong may looming water crisis because there are a lot of things that can be implemented to prevent a possibility of any looming water crisis," said lawyer Nathaniel Santos, officer-in-charge of MWSS.

For its part, Maynilad clarified that a water crisis may only occur if Kaliwa Dam will not be finished by 2022.

"Mangyayari 'yan kung 'yung mga plano, na nandiyan na rin naman, ay madedelay pa o hindi matuloy," Randolph Estrellado, Maynilad Chief Operating Officer, said.

The water utility company also said it has yet to decide whether to impose rate adjustments with the development of new water sources. —Erwin Colcol/KBK, GMA News