The week of September 19, 2022 has been a week of critical dialogues on a number of key areas of the sustainable development goals. In New York, it was the first time that President Marcos addressed the United Nations General Assembly in its 77th Session. In his speech, he highlighted climate change as the greatest global threat that warrants a global and united effort.

For instance, the Philippines is the 4th vulnerable country to climate change, net carbon sink. Philippines is among those nations that absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits. President Marcos reiterates this uneven and historical injustice, where the least responsible suffer most. This is what he refers to as the "if and when" dialogue that has long since passed, a dialogue that needs to happen now.

On the home front, in the same week, five leading organizations came together to lead another critical, long overdue "if and when dialogue". The Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Accra Law, Management Association of the Philippines, and The Manila Times, led by Water.org came together for the first time to tackle and discuss the "if and when" of water security. Like climate change, water security ought to be a dialogue that needs to happen now.

Approximately three hundred participants from public and private sector joined the Sustainable Path to Water Security for the Philippines forum on September 20, 2022. Opening the dialogue was Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno (via pre-recorded video). He highlighted the Philippines’ Water and Sanitation Roadmap that outlined the key reform areas needed, like regulatory and enabling environment and access to finance, to achieve sustainable access to safe water and sanitation. He emphasized the need to mobilize trillions to address the cost of achieving SDG6. There is a need to harmonize and orchestrate investments from private sector, international development partners and local investors, according to Secretary Diokno. In closing, he assured that in the Department of Finance’s capacity as Chair of the Administrator’s Economic Advisers Team, DOF stands ready to support all efforts towards shared goal of achieving universal access to clean water and fighting climate change at the soonest possible time.

The urgency to solve the impact of climate change and its adverse effects on water security was echoed by Mr. Carlos Vasquez, Chief of WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Unit, UNICEF. According to Mr. Vasquez, the biggest externality affecting water security is climate change. Twenty million people a year are displaced globally by climate related events. Eighty percent of this, live in Asia and more and more, affecting the Philippines in the same proportion. Mr. Vasquez expounded on UNICEF’s Water Security for All Program. This program, among others, recognizes the importance of a climate resilient approach to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

Mayor Aristotle Aguirre of Mulanay Quezon. a first-class municipality with approximately 56,000 in population, 42,000 hectares land area (1/3 of Metro Manila), also joined the forum. Mayor Aguirre is a newly elected mayor faced with the issue of contaminated water, ground water drying up and water from wells penetrated by salt water. Physical infrastructure is also not up to par with uncalibrated water meters. Although potential alternative sources are available like the Mulanay River, access to finance is a major concern with majority of its residents living below the poverty line.

It is hopeful to note though that at the local level, there are existing enabling policies and market-driven solutions to address sustainable access to safe water and sanitation in the Philippines, particularly the situation of Mulanay, which I believe is representative of a number of municipalities across the Philippines. On the enabling policy side, the office of Governor Hermilando Mandanas joined the forum to educate many about the Mandanas ruling. Mandanas ruling provides LGU with administrative autonomy to identify priority programs. More specifically, it provides for a bigger Internal Revenue Allotment based on overall national taxes that can potentially mean more financial resources to address water and sanitation issues.

Through the participation of Water.org in the forum, market-driven solutions were presented. Water.org is an international NGO co-founded by Gary White, an engineer and Hollywood Actor Matt Damon. Among others, Water.org is focused on mobilizing financing to the water and sanitation sector through technical assistance to financial institutions to adapt a loan product dedicated to WASH and to water utilities, especially the small ones, to help increase their efficiencies and as a result enhance their bankability to access finance. In the days immediately following the forum, Water.org and private sector players in water and sanitation sat down to continue the dialogue, identifying specific points of collaboration.

"If and when" dialogues are hard to appreciate. In most cases, it is only until the inevitable happens then the reality of “if and when” dialogues become very relevant. It is truly my hope to see forums that are beyond the showcase of knowledge but rather forums that pave the way for a sustained “if and when” dialogue that lead to concrete collaborations between public and private sector especially on water security and climate change.

Gay Santos is the Regional Director for Southeast Asia at Water.org, a global NGO co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White. She retired from the World Bank Group in 2019 and holds an MBA degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. The opinion expressed herein does not necessarily reflect the views of these institutions and Manila Bulletin.

Griselda Gay G. Santos

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