A House leader is pursuing the immediate approval of a bill establishing the national framework for water resource management and creating the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Water Regulatory Commission (WRC). Deputy Minority Leader and Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera said that the proposed legislation was "long overdue" and that she has been "fighting for its passage for more than a decade already". "It is high time that we come up with a comprehensive regulatory framework designed to better balance the management of the country’s water resources through the creation of DWR and WRC,” Herrera said. “This measure is extremely important because it gives us the opportunity to sustainably use and manage our water resources for the long-term to support the needs of agriculture, industries, and households, among other sectors,” added the former Quezon City councilor. Herrera made the call after attending the recent meeting of the technical working group (TWG) tasked to consolidate several measures on the creation of DWR and WRC, including House Bill (HB) Nos. 1013 and 1014, which the lady solon filed in July last year. The TWG was formed by the House Committees on Government Reorganization and on Public Works and Highways, which were jointly tackling the proposed “National Water Act". Herrera said her twin measures would help the country achieve universal access to safe, adequate, affordable and sustainable water services and sanitation for all Filipinos. “The Philippines is a water rich country, yet despite an overflowing capital, many Filipinos experience deprivation from affordable, safe drinking water and a working sanitation system,” Herrera said in the explanatory note of her bills. “The perennial problem has seriously affected the lives of our citizens in terms or health, sanitation, food security and livelihood, in addition to negatively impacting the environment,” she added. HB No. 1013, or the proposed Water Regulatory Act, seeks to rationalize the economic and administrative regulation of water utilities through an independent, quasi-judicial body called the WRC. HB No. 1014, on the other hand, aims to rationalize the resource management of water, sewage and sanitation through the creation of Department of Water, Sewage, and Sanitation.