Rogelio Singson’s Advocacy On Water

To hear former DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson dwell on water is to learn first-hand what the Philippines needs to ensure potable water for the majority of its citizens, assure food security, and transform deadly floods into tourism sites.

Photo Insert: Singson, currently holding the position of CEO and President at Metro Pacific Water, has dedicated himself to his "personal advocacy" of prioritizing necessary measures in the water sector for the country. He emphasizes the need for an "Integrated Water Resources Management" approach that relies on empirical evidence to guide water-related projects.

Singson, who is now CEO and President of Metro Pacific Water, has made it his “personal advocacy” to focus on what needs to be done in the water sector for the country detailing the need for what he termed as an “Integrated Water Resources Management” that will have empirical bases to latch on to for projects related to water.

For instance, in the last 100 years, data is available to determine where were the biggest floods that hit parts of the country and from there design a way to make use of the destructive “rainwater” by putting up sabo dams that can then can convert water into energy, Singson said, adding there is no “rocket science” about the process.

He also lamented about the huge budget for flood control, to the tune of P250 billion a year, that can actually fund several Jalaur Dam, a multi-purpose water reservoir in Iloilo that cost about P11.5 billion and which will be finished in 2028, four years late due to right-of-way problems.

Funded by the Korean ExIm Bank, the dam will be able to irrigate Iloilo and eight other municipalities and will result in higher palay production and increased agricultural input to the country’s GDP.

For him, there is a need for political will and a joint effort to come up with an integrated plan to solve the perennial flooding problem that results in low agricultural productivity as the topsoil goes with the rainwater that will mean increased fertilizer to make the farmlands productive again.

Such gargantuan waste, Singson said, can be overcome with an integrated plan that will face up to about 30 government agencies that have their own budgets related to water. And this includes the Local Water Utilities Administration which takes care of 584 water districts that now are gasping for air for more funds.

That pretty soon, there will come a time when there is no piped clean water for poor households who cannot afford bottled water, is what worries him no end. What will then happen to the poor as they come face-to-face with water-borne diseases?

For Singson, sabo dams can even be transformed into tourism sites like one in Ilocos Norte.

Singson unveiled his take on the looming water problem in an engaging interview with the DWIZ’s “In the Heart of Business” aired February 16, 1 to 2 pm and which can be accessed via YouTube.

In that interview, Singson even talked about the looming power problem that will grip the country starting this March as there were no new plants to come onstream. So, rotating brownouts are on the horizon.

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