HAGENIMANA CHRISTIAN

BSCE 5-1
201610612
CENG 145
ASSIGNMENT #2

Water is “essential to life” and must go “beyond the commerce of men,”

President Duterte declared amid the government’s resolve to ensure public
access to clean and potable water.

The President has renewed his commitment to continue to provide for the
people’s basic needs, including clean water, as he reached the halfway mark
of his six-year term.

The government aims to attain the target of 95.9 percent water supply
coverage throughout the country by 2022.

“Access to safe water is a fundamental human right and necessity, and it is

our responsibility to provide clean and potable water to our citizens,” Duterte
said in his midterm report to the nation.

“Our businessmen should realize that they are catering to a public need and,
as such, profit should be balanced with public service and convenience. The
government is, therefore, relentlessly pursuing measures to ensure that our
people shall have equal access to clean water,” he said.

He recalled that when water interruptions hit Metro Manila and nearby areas
last March, he ordered the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
(MWSS) to coordinate with Manila Water and Maynilad to take steps to
ensure sufficient supply of water.

To prevent a repeat of the water shortage in Metro Manila and meet the
growing demand for water in other parts of the country, the President said the
government has started to develop alternative water sources.

“In this regard, we have set the implementation of our water projects into full
speed, as we continue to pursue our strategic infrastructure development
agenda through the Build, Build, Build Program,” he said.

Among the projects cited by the President are the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply
Project (BBWSP), New Centennial Water Supply-Kaliwa Dam Project
(NCWS-KDP), Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project (AWTIP), and
Ipo Dam 3 Project.

On the Bulacan water project, Duterte said it aims to provide an additional 388
million liters per day (MLD) of potable water to the province by 2022. The
BBWSP’s water treatment facilities and conveyance system for Stages 1 and
2 have been operational since April 2019.
The construction of the Kaliwa dam project aims to ease the dependency on
the Angat Dam for water supply as it is projected to provide an additional 600
MLD of water to Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

“Mindful that the project’s site is within the ancestral domain of our Dumagat
tribe, we shall ensure that their cultural heritage, rights, and norms are
respected and carefully considered in the implementation of the NCWS-KDP,”
Duterte said.

Last year In May 2019, Duterte said the construction of the Angat water
transmission project had a 92.48 percent accomplishment rate. The project,
which involves the construction of a 6.4 kilometer tunnel, aims to improve the
Ipo-La Mesa Transmission System to continually supply sufficient raw water
to Metro Manila.

“We expect to complete the project by February 2020, ahead of its targeted
September 2020 completion,” Duterte said.

He said the Ipo Dam 3, a catchment for excess water from the Ipo Dam 2 and
adjacent tributaries, shall help in the efficient management of water supply
and irrigation while mitigating flooding downstream.

He said the government was also building additional resilient infrastructure

linking the Ipo and La Mesa Dams to ensure stable water supply.

“Aqueduct no. 7, which is currently being constructed, will replace the oldest
and deteriorated Aqueduct nos. 1 and 2. Upon its completion, Tunnel no. 5
will allow an additional 1,642 MLD of water to flow towards La Mesa Dam,” he
said.

Reference: https://ppp.gov.ph/in_the_news/duterte-vows-to-provide-clean-
water-to-the-people/