President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. stressed that many communities in the country have been under water crisis that an urgent step must be taken to address it. Speaking during the 6th Water Philippines Conference and Exposition on Thursday, March 23, Marcos reiterated that the country can tap several technologies to address the crisis. "And so these are the kinds of stratagems that we have to employ, that we have to bring down to the grassroots level because the water crisis in the Philippines – and I call it a water crisis because it is," Marcos said. "I was very surprised in the past years, even as senator, even as governor, that no one was speaking about water problems. Whereas every single urban community and even some rural communities in the Philippines have a water crisis," The President emphasized that while the lingering water crisis in the country's communities are yet to be addressed, technologies that could potentially solve this are already available. "I happened to – have been given the opportunity to walk around a little bit and see some of the exhibitors. And it is very gratifying to note that in fact the technologies that are being used, that are being employed in terms of water treatment, in terms of water management are well-known technologies," he said. "And so I am very optimistic that the solutions that we need to formulate are out there, the technologies are out there. What has continued to change in the light of climate change is the management, the stratagems on how we manage our water," he added. The chief executive pointed out that providing a solution to the problem is something that has been "continually postponed." "And it's something that we have continually postponed. We do not examine it. We do not look at it, just find other ways and put up with the idea that once in a while we’ll have to pull out our buckets and fill our bathtubs with water because there’s not going to be water for the next 24 hours," he stressed. Marcos said the majority of water in the country is still taken from underground aquifers, but "if you manage your surface water properly, then there would be no need for us to be digging wells and starting to affect the water table that is under us" that affects agriculture, construction, infrastructure, among others. He also underscored that the government must think in a very different way now in terms of water management, adding that it is no longer just about flood control but expanding it to irrigation and water treatment. "When I was still governor, when you said water management, it generally meant flood control. And we would put dikes, we would put dams so as to be able to control the flooding," he said. "However now, we must think in a very different way. Flood control, although many of the projects that the government has undertaken is categorized as flood control, these flood control projects no longer just are exclusively for that. We take the water and we use it for irrigation, we use it for drinking water if we have a treatment plant. We also take the water and hopefully if there is enough of a gradient that we are able to produce some power with the mini hydros," he added. Stressing that the "Philippines is not a dry place" to have not enough water for its people, he said that the government needs to employ available technologies and make a cohesive policy and plan for the entire country. In his speech, Marcos also stated that the conference is necessary and an urgent step towards attaining water security and providing safe, adequate, affordable, and accessible drinking water for the Filipino people. "[W]e are facing some serious challenges and we really need to work very hard together," he said.