GROWING up as a seven-year-old child in a rural town in Batangas with no water distribution system, I have fetched water from wells a kilometer away from our house. I started with a pail that I could carry through the muddy and slippery path between rice paddies. Then as I grew stronger through the years, I would carry two big pails of water balanced on both ends of the bamboo pole. We stored our drinking water inside an earthen water jar called “banga.” Aside from the wells, the irrigation canals and streams served as places to wash clothes and to bathe.
If potable water was difficult to secure, proper sanitation was even worse. Clean toilets were non-existent. People defecated on open pits, shrubs and canals. Even in public schools, using the toilet was the most traumatic experience that grade school students suffered. The worst task a teacher could give a student was to clean the toilet where human waste was scattered all over the place with unbearable stink.
This translated into the public health problems. Waterborne diseases afflicted not only children but adults as well. Worm infestation led to malnutrition and other illnesses which also led to underdevelopment of children’s brain development and stunting. Data from the World Health Organization reveals that more than 50 percent of the Philippine population has no access to safe water or proper sanitation. Research showed that 1 in 10 Filipinos still lacks access to improved water sources, and acute watery diarrhea has been among the leading causes of death in past years, claiming over 139,000 lives in 2016. During shortages, households often rely on unsafe sources or store water in large containers, which can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and increase the risk of diseases like dengue fever.
Water, just like air, is for the human species one of the most important life sources. Water is associated with life. Yet, the country’s government and business leaders pay little attention and resources to protect it, nurture it and sustain it. Worse, water security is considered as one of the least priorities in government spending and resource allocation as if our water problems would be washed away by neglect. If ever, it becomes a priority only insofar as the graft and plunder-laden flood control projects are concerned because corrupt politicians and contractors could make dirty money out of these projects.
Ironically, while Filipinos suffer from water scarcity in their home faucets, our communities are inundated time and again by massive floods that drown our people in rampaging waters. Just a few days ago, we witnessed yet again the floods of Iligan City which in 2011 suffered the wrath of Typhoon Sendong with 2,500 casualties. In 2009, Metro Manila experienced its worst floods brought by Typhoon Ondoy. But even without typhoons, frequent disruptions of schools, businesses and government operations occurred in the past years because of the sudden flooding that even ordinary torrential rains could bring.
Water is life. Our agriculture, the source of our food, would be non-existent without sufficient water irrigation. Our people may not only die of thirst but also of hunger if water supply dries up.
While it is true that climate change remains one of the most significant drivers of water scarcity in the country, our water crisis is caused more by human neglect and stupidity rather than climate change. But even scientific data points to climate change as a cause of humans’ self-destructive behavior. Reports from Unicef Philippines and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources warns that 40 percent to 80 percent of the country’s water supply may be depleted by 2040 due to climate-related impacts. More intense typhoons, prolonged droughts and unpredictable rainfall patterns have disrupted water availability across regions. The Climate Change Commission further highlights that only 48 percent of the population currently has access to safely managed potable water, underscoring the magnitude of water insecurity nationwide.
Rapid urbanization aggravates strain on existing water systems. Population growth continues to outpace the capacity of aging pipelines and reservoirs, resulting in frequent service interruptions and periodic shortages. Poor infrastructure is a central issue: many pipes are outdated, leaking, or inefficiently connected, leading to widespread system losses. Non-revenue water (NRW), which includes leaks, theft and meter inaccuracies, ranges from 30 percent to over 60 percent in some areas. Inadequate infrastructure also compounds urban-rural disparities, as rural areas remain more vulnerable to limited access and contamination despite being closer to natural water sources.
Despite the severity of the water crisis, governance and institutional fragmentation continue to pose barriers to effective water management. Multiple agencies oversee different aspects of water regulation, leading to inefficiencies and unclear accountability. To add to the problems, corruption and bad governance further sweep water management in deeper waters.
As typical of bureaucratic response, our government’s response is to create more bureaucracy. This is akin to an executive drowning in gargantuan tasks with insufficient head count who requested help from his superior when additional tasks were given. With more work and less staff, his superior’s response was to give him an additional boss to report to instead of the additional staff he had requested.
We hope against hope for the success of the proposed legislative solutions, such as House Bill 9663, that seeks to establish a Department of Water Resources (DWR) to centralize planning, regulation and oversight of all water-related matters. Lawmakers emphasize that water management must be treated as a core state duty rather than a peripheral concern handled by disparate agencies. The bill also proposes a Water Regulatory Commission and restructuring of the National Water Resources Board to improve allocation, monitoring and rule enforcement.
Addressing the water crisis in the Philippines requires a multifaceted and coordinated approach. Infrastructure upgrading is critical — repairing pipelines, expanding treatment facilities, and modernizing distribution networks can significantly reduce losses and improve reliability. Community engagement and awareness programs are also important, encouraging water conservation, household filtration practices, and safe storage techniques.
Climate adaptation strategies-such as rainwater harvesting, watershed rehabilitation, and improved hydrological monitoring must be prioritized to enhance resilience against extreme weather events. Moreover, the protection and sustainability of our watersheds and our upland forests can recharge fast depleting aquifers and prevent disastrous floods in the lowlands and flood basins. For Metro Manila, the Laguna Lake Development Authority must be put to task and made to account in relation to the health and revitalization of Laguna Lake and its more than 187 river tributaries. Laguna Lake remains to be the most important natural water reservoir, critical to water security and flood control of the nation’s capital and its surrounding regions.
We are a nation of tragic irony. We are drowning in water but dying of thirst with the lack of it. Water security must be one of the top agenda of our leaders. Not the wasteful and corrupt flood control alone.