DENR exec: 40 million Pinoys have no access to water supply

Around 40 million Filipinos do not have access to formal water supply, an official from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Tuesday.

At a Palace press briefing, DENR Undersecretary Carlos Primo David said most of these individuals reside in Mindanao, especially in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

''The directive of the President this morning was very clear – 40 million of our residents ‘no, of Filipinos do not have access to a formal water supply. They still access water from springs, from creeks, some even rainwater ‘no – they rely on rainwater for drinking water purposes,'' David said.

''And while we have big projects in line for large cities such as Bacolod, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Tarlac City and so on, we have to focus on the 40 million underserved population and there are a few strategies that we have in mind in order for us to provide water to these communities,'' he added.

David also said those who do not have water supply could be found in island and upland barangays.

''We have a priority list of 65 island barangays that we want to start with – 65,'' the DENR official said.

David explained that this could be addressed through a desalination system, which is the conversion of sea water to fresh water. 

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''Alam po ng lahat iyong desalination mahal po iyan na proseso at saka kailangan ay may volume para medyo maibsan iyong cost noong imprastraktura,'' David said.

(Desalination process is expensive and volume is needed to ease the infrastructure cost.)

''But over the years the technology has improved tremendously and now we have what are called the modular desalination systems – sinlaki lang siya ng container van at it can provide water to up to around 500 families in each and every desalination plant,'' he added.

David said they are looking for suppliers from Israel, Netherlands, Singapore as regards the desalination process.

During the sectoral meeting, President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. reiterated the importance of the integrated water resource masterplan and managing water resources in the time of El Niño phenomenon.

Marcos further discussed the mitigation of floods during La Niña.  — RSJ/LA, GMA Integrated News