CAN we talk about water conservation now? The reactions to the “balde” optics seem to have died down. It is apparent that very few people are willing to drink visibly dirty water even if cured by filtration and purification tablets, and even if the highest officer of the land demonstrated its drinkability. I’d like to think that the spectacle had served its purpose. It has brought the severity of water scarcity and the looming agricultural and humanitarian crisis into public focus. Suddenly everyone is thinking and talking about water security. And perhaps that is where the conversation should begin; not with the bucket itself, but with the much bigger question of how we secure our water supply for the future.
As someone who's been living in Parañaque for over 20 years, I am no stranger to water emergencies. Every house has its own water tank and pump. This was the norm in Parañaque from the time of government-run Nawasa. The water supply situation in Parañaque has since improved with privatization. But even new Parañaque houses still have water tanks.
This would be a good time for government to tell Filipinos what it is doing to secure the country's water future and explaining how citizens can contribute. A bucket may help a family prepare for an emergency for a day. But the public also needs to know whether the country is investing in sufficient water infrastructure, managing its dams effectively, developing alternative sources, and protecting its watersheds. The bucket should have been a footnote to the water security strategy, not the symbol of it.
Though the Philippines has experienced El Niño and extreme weather conditions in the past, we must prepare more for this “Super El Niño.” It is a global phenomenon that will affect different regions in different ways. The World Food Program (WFP) expects that the intensified and prolonged event will severely impact food security in at least 45 countries.
The Philippines is among the 22 high-risk countries identified by the WFP, that may experience drought that will affect agriculture, water availability and food security. The WFP is calling on governments and humanitarian organizations to act early before drought, floods and failed harvests affect food production and incomes. While this El Niño emergency is slowly unfolding, we are already dealing with very high prices of energy, transport, and fertilizer because of the long-term disruption affecting shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, the Black Sea and the Red Sea.
In the disaster resilience space, we call for Anticipatory Action, or acting before a crisis strikes, rather than waiting for disaster to unfold. By using climate forecasts and early-warning systems, communities can receive cash assistance, food support, and timely alerts before hazards escalate. The approach also means investing in more resilient water systems, irrigation and flood protection, alongside disaster risk financing mechanisms such as savings, loans and insurance. This principle was underscored by the Philippine leadership during the September Asean Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience which I hosted and moderated. The message is simple, prepare early, protect livelihoods, and reduce the human and economic costs of disasters.
Water conservation is one of those things governments routinely ask citizens to do, usually when the reservoirs are running low and the threat of water shortages is already upon us. But by then, we may have lost the most valuable resource in managing a crisis: time.
As El Niño threatens water security across Southeast Asia, we need to rethink how we communicate the urgency of conserving water. The challenge is not simply to tell people to use less. It is to help them understand why they need to act now, how their actions make a difference, and what government is doing to secure our water supply.
People need clear, practical advice. Fix leaking faucets and pipes. Take shorter showers. Run washing machines only with full loads. Or run the washing machines at night while there is less demand for energy and water. Reuse gray water where it is safe to do so. Water plants during cooler hours to reduce evaporation. Do you really have to wash your car, or can it skip a few days? These may seem like small gestures, but collective action can help reduce demand when water supplies are under pressure.
Households have to do their part. Government and water utilities must also do theirs, such as repairing leaks in distribution networks, protecting watersheds, improving water storage, diversifying supply and managing demand. The DENR launched a water conservation campaign last March called “Wag Pataksaya” with a hotline on Viber or SMS where people can report water issues (0949-884-8927). Again, it is a whole of society approach.
Water conservation is not a temporary sacrifice citizens must make whenever a drought threatens. It should be part of a longer-term culture of water stewardship, one that recognizes water as a finite resource and prepares communities for a more uncertain climate. Take it from Parañaque residents who conserve water by muscle memory.
The goal is not merely to persuade people to turn off the tap when water runs low. It is to help them understand that every drop saved today can contribute to our resilience tomorrow. This way we won’t have to drink treated gutter-water collected from pails. Just the same, it’s good to know that that small-scale intervention exists.
