THE VIEW FROM RIZAL
Dr. Jun Ynares
The water supply situation in the National Capitol Region and its surrounding high-growth areas like Rizal province borders on the funny as it is ironic.
During the wet season, torrential rains triggered by typhoons and the monsoon, we worry that our dams might overflow and cause destructive floods. During the dry season, we monitor with anguished feelings the reports about critical water levels in these dams.
We cannot be indifferent. After all, the situation in these dams determine whether or not the people of Metro Manila and the surrounding high-growth areas would be able to take a bath, brush their teeth and boil water for their coffee.
More than 95 percent of the water supply of these areas come from the Angat System which include Angat Dam, Ipo Dam and Umiray Dam. Close to 20 million people living in households in the National Capital Region, parts of Rizal and Cavite share that water supply with thousands of industries and commercial establishments. At present, low water pressure and frequent service interruption signal that the days of our dependence on the supply coming from the Angat System are numbered.
Water supply sufficiency and security has been the national government’s headache. To be fair, during the past several administrations, the national government has done its best to come up with solutions. One such solution was tapping private sector concessionaires to manage and improve the water distribution system and to look for sources of bulk water supply.
Portions of Rizal, Cavite and Metro Manila are now benefitting from this particular solution.
In Rizal, for example, private concessionaire Manila Water is implementing two projects that taps the waters of Laguna de Bay, treats the water and distributes it to households in the province’s various municipalities.
This is one solution and addresses the need of only one part of the high-growth area. The government has to look for more solutions. Often, the potential solutions require the buy-in of the people and communities who will be affected directly by their implementation. And, often, the buy-in is hard to come by.
One such solution which the national government has attempted to pursue is the New Centennial Water Supply Project.
The project aims to build new bulk water supply sources to meet the needs of Metro Manila’s households, businesses and industries.
The project calls for the construction of a new dam which is to be built on a portion of the Sierra Madre Mountain range Teresa, Rizal at the boundary of Rizal and Quezon provinces.
The project has been approved by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) years ago. Construction of the dam in Teresa was supposed to have been started in 2020 and scheduled to be finished in 2025. It is expected to bring some 600 million liters of water daily Metro Manila and reduce the dependence of this area on the dwindling supply from the Angat System.
The project has been stalled for various reasons. One is the possible impact on the environment and communities. The construction of the dam will involve the submerging of several barangays. Most of them are part of the ancestral domain of indigenous Filipinos whose forebears inhabited Rizal province long before settlers from the lowlands came.
It appears the concerned national government agencies have gotten the nod of some of the affected indigenous communities – but not all of them. Based on feedback, there are many communities other than the indigenous ones which the concerned agencies may have overlooked. These communities – including some local government units in Rizal province – are affected by the construction of Kaliwa Dam. They feel they have not been consulted nor fully apprised of the impact of the project on their lives and livelihood.
This is why the recent move by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to suspend the construction of the Kaliwa Dam was lauded by many.
We learned of the action taken by new DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga over the weekend. Media reported Secretary Yulo-Loyzaga as saying that the agencies involved in the project have not fully complied with the conditions set in the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). Because the conditions are unmet, the ECC has been put on hold.
Secretary Yulo-Loyzaga’s move takes place at a time when environmental concerns are high on the consciousness of the public. As mentioned in our previous column, this was significantly influenced by the resurgence of the public’s awareness of the important role that mountain ranges like our Sierra Madre play in protecting us from the wrath of serious weather disturbances entering the Philippine land mass from the east.
The Kaliwa Dam saga teaches all of us about the value of stakeholder relationship management and the importance of authentic dialogue with them. They have interests to protect, primarily their families and their future. The government has a stake to protect, too: its ability to fulfill its mandate to fulfill the needs of the larger community.
It is not easy to balance such colliding interests. But that is why there is government in the first place. That is a balancing act that government alone can do.
For feedback, please email it to [email protected] or send it to Block 6 Lot 10 Sta. Barbara 1 cor. Bradley St., Mission Hills Subd., Brgy. San Roque, Antipolo City, Rizal.