Lawmaker urges government to create national water use plan

MANILA, Philippines — A senior administration lawmaker is calling on the national government to form a “comprehensive” master plan for the utilization of the country’s rich water resources for purposes of irrigating farmlands and ensuring food security along the way.

“Our farmers are in dire need of an efficient, stable and proper continuous supply of water for irrigation of the farms that they till. It is very important that government comes up with a National Water Use Plan for their peace of mind,” Rep. David Suarez said.

The congressman from Quezon province, who sits as vice chairman of the House committee on agriculture, said the creation of a National Water Use Plan will provide farmers with accessible water supply to improve productivity and boost their meager income.

Data culled from the National Irrigation Administration showed that 36 percent of the country’s 3,128,631 total irrigable areas actually do not have any reliable or dependable irrigation system.

“This is why we have to resolve first the root problem, and this is where the putting up of a National Water Use Plan is essential as a means to fill the gap, or the problem that has been hounding their farmlands – the lack of water,” Suarez said.

According to him, there has to be a comprehensive program on the proper and cost-effective use of water systems to address the perennial problem of water shortage for farmlands and subsequently, ensure a more efficient national food security program.

“This is very crucial in the sense that we have to have this water use plan so that we may be able to reach the level of food security for our fellow Filipinos. This should go hand in hand with our national farm-to-market road plan,” the veteran lawmaker stressed. “This will ensure we optimize our natural resource towards sustainability and security.”

The comprehensive water program would complement the National Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) master plan, which President Marcos has asked agriculture officials and experts to create at the soonest time possible.

The FMR master plan, envisioned to promote food security and empower rural communities, will include regional maps detailing the exact locations of farm-to-market roads to be constructed.

Suarez and his wife, Alona party-list Rep. Anna Suarez, recently joined officials from the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 4-A in the caravan distribution of DA interventions and Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance to farmers’ groups in Sariaya, Candelaria, Tiaong, San Antonio, Dolores and Lucena City.

The program provided help to farmers growing vegetables, corn, high-value crops and fruit-bearing trees.

In 2012, the late president Benigno Simeon Aquino III planned but failed to come up with what he called a “superbody” on water concerns that would address all forms of water problems across the country.

He initially planned to issue an executive order abolishing the National Water Resources Board, but was unable to do so until he stepped down in June 2016.