50 communal faucets flow for Liloan’s mountain Baragay

CEBU, Philippines — For the first time after almost two centuries of existence as a municipality, Liloan is able to provide direct access to water for the 1,615 people living in the mountains of Barangay Tabla.

At 800 feet above sea level, Tabla had long been bereft of potable water in its midst. Its residents had to go to other barangays daily to buy water, or travel to a river to get some for their daily needs.

But last Saturday, January 19, was a historic day for Tabla as water started flowing from 50 community faucets spread across the mountainous barangay.

Senior citizens could not believe they would live to see the day that water will be accessible in their part of the mountains, more than 10 kilometers from the town proper.

“Wala mi nagtuo na samtang buhi pa mi, moabot gayud ang tubig sa Tabla. Daghan kaayong salamat (we did not expect to get to see water supply coming to Tabla while we’re still alive. Thank you very much),” Lucia Salundagit, 79, told Mayor Christina Frasco, who led the inauguration of the communal for the water systems that cost nearly P3 million. The water is currently free for all residents pending discussions with the barangay.

Mayor Frasco was accompanied by her husband, Duke, during the inauguration.

“As we traveled across the newly cemented roads of Tabla which we inaugurated last year, Duke and I met and shared in the joy of mothers and fathers, farmers, school children, Lolos and Lolas who have lived in Tabla all their lives, and who saw, for the first time, water coming out of faucets in their own barangay,” said Mayor Frasco.

“Amidst the almost daily barrage of hate and negativity that certain people spew out online or in the airwaves for their own political interests, it is easy to drown in all that vitriol and do nothing else but attack and put down. We choose to focus on the work, and on delivering projects that try to bring hope and change to people’s lives,” she added. FPL, (FREEMAN)