Beyond the balde

OK, carping critics, the suggestion to collect rainwater in buckets or balde for filtration into potable water is just one of several measures the government is rolling out or has implemented to address the impact of the “super” El Niño.

Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian stressed this, saying that the Marcos administration received sufficient warning from scientists about the strong El Niño and began preparations as early as 2025, and much earlier for other drought events.

Some of the measures mainly enhanced already existing programs to address problems related to food, water and energy security as well as irrigation and public health, Gatchalian said.

For example, since 2023, thousands of small water impounding projects have been built across the country for sustainable infrastructure and disaster resilience.

These include rainwater collection and catchment projects that provide alternative water sources especially for communities in GIDAs or geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Also being rolled out are solar-powered pumping units, shallow wells with water pumps and the use of air-to-water technology. AWT uses generators that draw humidity or moisture from the air to produce water that’s clean enough to drink.

The AWT generators can be solar-powered, hybrid or off-grid systems that are particularly useful in remote and disaster-hit areas. Also called atmospheric water generator, the AWT was launched last Sept. 30 on Gilutongan Island in Cawayan, Masbate, where deep wells can extract only salty groundwater unfit for drinking.

Gatchalian was glad to explain DSWD projects as he went to The STAR last Monday for an interview on our online show “Truth on the Line.”

He pointed out that on the same day, President Marcos went to Pamplona, Cagayan to inaugurate a solar-powered submersible pump for irrigation covering over 600 hectares. BBM also went to Ifugao to launch a pump irrigation system to expand the water service to 2,300 hectares of farmlands.

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The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), with its social protection mandate, has found itself embroiled in controversies. This is over the use of public funds for political patronage using state-funded ayuda.

BBM had promised no more guarantee letters from politicians for people to avail themselves of welfare programs such as the so-called health pork barrel, the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients. But watchdogs, who want MAIFIP abolished, say GLs remain in use.

Gatchalian told me that the DSWD gets endorsements for ayuda access not just from politicians, but also from other sectors and entities, including religious groups, civic foundations and mass media.

All such endorsements including GLs must be vetted by DSWD personnel, he stressed, for the validity of the need and the proper response.

Critics of ayuda-centric budgeting have said that people must not have to beg for government services from politicians, and should instead be able to go directly to concerned government offices for the needed services to which taxpayers are entitled.

Gatchalian is working on the digitalization of DSWD services, to cut the number of steps plus human intervention in accessing government aid.

A former mayor and congressman, he says that people are more comfortable approaching local officials for all sorts of needs.

This mindset is in fact what budget watchdogs and MAIFIP/ayuda critics are trying to break. Is this goal unrealistic? We do have this culture long associated with certain Asian societies, wherein people rely on patrons in the community to take care of their needs.

Several of our Asian neighbors, however, have shucked off this mindset that encourages dependence. Also, it won’t be a problem if such patrons used their own money, earned from legitimate sources, for handing out ayuda.

What’s wrong is that politicians not only take personal credit for tax-funded aid, but also mess with budgeting and prioritize short-term dole-outs over strategic development planning, efficient project implementation and human empowerment.

There’s already a model for non-political social amelioration: the conditional cash transfer. The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program requires beneficiaries to keep their kids in school, the mother to access reproductive health care and the family to have a regular source of modest income. The 4Ps cash transfers are received by ATM, without human intervention.

Yet 4Ps funding has gone down in budget priorities while the list of ayuda programs for political patronage keeps growing.

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How are the DSWD’s interactions with local government officials? Has devolution gone overboard?

Gatchalian, whose brother Wes is the current mayor of their turf Valenzuela, says there should be a more efficient allocation of the Local Government Support Fund, so that poor areas will get the funding that they badly need.

In any case, the DSWD is a frontline implementer of ayuda and other social amelioration programs. The one who draws flak for ayudanomics isn’t the DSWD chief, but the one who green-lights the policy and signs the annual national budget: President Marcos.

Despite the bloated funds for ayuda, BBM’s ratings still keep falling. Is it just a case of failure to communicate what the government is doing for the people?

Effective messaging falls on the new head of the Presidential Communications Office, Lino Cayetano. He appears to be the most media-savvy among BBM’s six PCO chiefs, perhaps because of his political background as a former mayor of Taguig.

Maybe positive stories about projects such as AWT are boring. I confess I didn’t pay much attention to the El Niño mitigation projects launched in recent months.

Gatchalian explained what the government has been doing, apart from the water filtration kits attached to buckets. He noted that the system, developed by a US-based group, has been in use worldwide for many years, for camping and in disaster areas.

The kits will be distributed for free initially in the drought-hit areas and some GIDAs, where they are certain to be welcomed.

If the DSWD can keep politicians out of the picture, the kits will be even more appreciated.