Metro Manila Council (MMC) President and San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Monday, July 10, said it is up to the local government executives of the cities in the National Capital Region (NCR) if they would impose regulating measures for establishments that have high water consumption following the directive of the Water Resources Management Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on water use mitigation. On July 9, the DENR issued Bulletin 002 which details measures to be taken to address the limited water supply while the country is experiencing the El Niño phenomenon that causes the water levels of dams that supply potable water to Luzon and Metro Manila to continuously decline. Under the bulletin, the agency called on all barangay officials and condominium and subdivision managers to advise residents to conserve water by reducing activities with high water consumption, promoting rainwater collection, and recycling water. "Depende na ho yan sa iba't ibang local government units (LGUs) sapagkat hindi pare pareho ang demographics ng ating mga lungsod. Anong ibig sabihin nyan? Ano yung mga malakas kumonsumo?: Ito yung mga carwashes, golf courses, mga swimming pools. Hindi naman lahat ng lungsod sa Metro Manila ay may mga golf course, hindi naman lahat may mga hotel na may mga swimming pools (It depends on the different LGUs in the Metro because the cities have different demographics. What does this mean? What are the establishments that consume a lot of water? These are the carwashes, golf courses, and swimming pools. Not all cities in Metro Manila have golf courses and hotels with swimming pools)," Zamora said in an interview. "Tulad ho ng aming lungsod, maliit lang ho kami, wala naman kami masyadong mga ganitong establisyimento so it will now depend on the LGUs if they will pass ordinances pero meron ho tayong working framework dyan which is mag-reuse and mag-recycle ng tubig (For example here in San Juan which is just a small city, we don't have a lot of those establishments so it will now depend on the LGUs if they will pass ordinances. However, we also have a working framework about this which is the reusing and recycling of water)," he added. According to the mayor, the city government has already created several rain catchment areas in the city hall as well as in barangay halls, preschools, and government facilities. Water catchment is the process of catching and storing rainwater with the use of funnels and drums so that it may be used for other purposes. Asked if the MMC has plans to ban or suspend the operations of high water consuming businesses in case water conservation efforts are not enough, Zamora said that they will continuously monitor the situation as the immediate ban on the operations of such establishments will have a heavy impact on the livelihood of their workers. "Base sa napagusapan namin, hindi naman iba-ban immediately dahil syempre sa kabilang banda, meron din namang mga kabuhayan na maaapektuhan kung total ban ang gagawin natin. So what we can really do now is: 1. Monitor very well. Kailangan meron tayong malakas na information dissemination sa ating mga mamamayan (Based on what we have discussed earlier, we would not immediately ban their operations because a lot of livelihood will be affected if a total ban will be implemented. So what we can really do now is 1. Monitor very well. We need to have a strong and effective information dissemination system to our citizens)," the local chief explained. "Ang problema ng El Niño ay seryoso. Minsan ho kasi iniisip natin na "Ay hindi kaya din natin lagpasan yan" pero base nga sa mga news ngayon, kita natin na yung mga level ng dam natin ay bumababa na at yung kinakatakutan nating epekto ng El Niño eh ito na nga (The problem of El Niño is very serious. Sometimes we just shrug it off and say "We can easily overcome that" but based on the news now, we are seeing the continuing decline in the water levels of our dams which is the scenario we all are fearing)," he stressed. According to water concessionaire Maynilad, the water level of Angat Dam, which is one of the primary sources of potable water in Metro Manila, dipped to 179.26m from its minimum operating level of 180m as of July 10. Zamora also reminded the public to report any water pipes that have leaks or damages to the LGU or water concessionaires so they can be immediately repaired. "It has to be a holistic effort, not just by commercial establishments, nor just by the government, but people individually."