ECCP backs bid to create water management body

CEBU, Philippines —  The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) reiterated its support to a proposal to create a department dedicated to manage the country’s water needs.

ECCP Nabil Francis expressed this amid the growing concerns of water supply woes in the country's key urban hubs like Cebu and Manila.

He cited water security as a very important economic factor.

ECCP had previously been conducting forums with Cebu’s water stakeholders to talk about supply issues amid the growing economic activity in the province.

Francis, in a recent interview, believes that the creation of a Department of Water will ensure the country’s long-term water needs. 

This department is seen to bring stakeholders together in resolving water supply issues.

This proposal had also been raised by economic planning chief Ernesto Pernia amid the El Niño-induced water shortage experienced in the capital.

Pernia had noted creating a water agency would centralize all efforts to ensure sufficient water supply for the country.

It was in 2016 when Senator Ralph Recto had filed a bill creating a Water Regulatory Commission, an "independent, quasi-judicial body consolidating the economic regulatory powers of the various water agencies into one national body."

In Cebu, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD), the main water supplier in the metro area, had projected it would have 43,000 cubic meters of additional water supply by 2020 in order to meet the fast growing demand for water in Metro Cebu.

MCWD projected that Metro Cebu’s water demand will grow up to 416,000 cubic meters a day in 2020 and hopes to increase its total production to more than 350,000 cubic meters a day.