State-run Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) has backed proposals in Congress to establish a national framework for water resource management, including the creation of a Department of Water Resources (DWR), saying institutional reforms could help address long-standing governance weaknesses in the sector.

In a position paper dated March 9 and prepared by PIDS senior research fellow Adoracion M. Navarro, the policy think tank examined several Senate measures—Senate Bill (SB) Nos. 83, 145, 225, 240, 310, 426, 1080, and 1475—along with House Bill (HB) No. 6789, which seek to restructure how water resources are governed and regulated in the Philippines.

Navarro said most of the SBs recognize that three major functions in the water sector should be treated as distinct responsibilities: policy coordination and planning, water resources regulation and allocation, and economic regulation of water utilities.

“This separation reflects international best practice, where policymaking, resource allocation, and economic regulation are handled by separate institutions,” Navarro said.

She added that such an arrangement addresses persistent structural weaknesses in the Philippine water sector, where existing government bodies have faced criticisms over “limited capacities, fragmented authorities, weak enforcement powers, and regulatory overlaps.”

According to PIDS, creating a DWR and a separate Water Regulatory Commission aims to provide “stronger institutional capacity; clearer accountability; and more specialized regulatory functions.”

Navarro also recommended that the SBs be consolidated and harmonized into a substitute measure. She said lawmakers could draw lessons from HB 6789, which has already been approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading.

Among the issues raised by PIDS is the need to reconcile differences among the proposed measures on institutional design. For instance, SB 426 differs significantly from the other SBs because it proposes a Water Resources and Management Authority rather than a department and does not include a Water Regulatory Commission.

Navarro said the arrangement proposed in the other SBs—establishing a DWR and a separate Water Regulatory Commission—is preferable because it strengthens institutional capacity and clarifies accountability.

PIDS also addressed several technical provisions in the proposed legislation. Navarro pointed out that the declaration in most of the SBs describing water as a “public good” is incorrect.

“This is incorrect because public good means non-rival and non-excludable,” she said, explaining that water should instead be classified as a “common-pool resource,” which is non-excludable but rivalrous in consumption.

Navarro said clarifying this distinction is important because it highlights the risks of overexploitation, pollution, and depletion when water use is not properly regulated.

PIDS also emphasized that institutional reforms alone will not fully resolve problems in the country’s water rights system unless amendments are made to Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1067.

Navarro noted that the 1976 Water Code predates modern concerns such as climate change, drought allocation, and water security planning. She said persistent structural problems in the current system include “perpetual or effectively permanent water permits” and the “lack of scientific volumetric accounting.”

Many permits remain valid indefinitely, are automatically renewed, and sometimes stay active even when unused, which can lead to speculative permits, hoarding of water rights, and overallocation within river basins, PIDS said.

Navarro also observed that actual water withdrawals are often not measured because many users lack meters and government monitoring capacity remains weak, making it difficult for authorities to determine whether water use exceeds sustainable limits.

The proposed reforms would allow regulators to revoke unused permits and impose penalties for violations, but Navarro said these measures could still face legal constraints under the existing Water Code.

She added that international best practice is to issue time-bound water permits, link renewals to compliance with rules, and establish basin-level allocation limits based on river basin plans that determine seasonal water availability and withdrawal ceilings.

Navarro said a future DWR could help drive amendments to the antiquated Water Code as its technical capacity develops.