President Marcos is pushing for the reorganization of water management in the country beginning with the creation of a Department of Water Resources.
“It’s a department because we are going to reorganize everything. But the original idea was that we would reorganize the entire water management process in the Philippines. But because of the exigencies of climate change, we really have to direct our efforts, our attention to [water],” he said on Wednesday.
The chief executive made the remarks during the 6th Legislative Executive Development Advisory
Council’s (LEDAC) full meeting at the Malacañang Palace when asked if he is keen to turn the water resources department into an “umbrella agency” instead of an independent agency.
During the meeting, he told Senate President Francis Escudero that Malacañang would come up with an executive version of the Department of Water Resources bill.
Mr. Marcos also urged lawmakers to immediately approve the “Waste-to-Energy Bill” to address the flooding problem in the country.
“We have to look at it in a more urgent sense because it really becomes such an important part of the flood control program,” he said during the 6th Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) full meeting at the Malacañan Palace.
The Waste-to-Energy Bill was approved on the third reading by the House of Representatives but is still up for the second reading in the Senate.
During the LEDAC meeting, Mr. Marcos emphasized the need to fast-track the measure “because the garbage problem is actually severe.”
While waste-to-energy projects have also reduced flooding by 40 percent, it has to be implemented at the local government level, he added.
“I think waste-to-energy now has taken on a new role. It is no longer just for garbage, or waste disposal or waste management. It is also now very much part of the flood-control effort,” the chief executive explained.
Aside from waste-to-energy initiatives, the President also pointed out that constructing higher flood walls and aggressive reforestation are key in mitigating flooding in Metro Manila and other flood-prone areas during typhoons and heavy monsoon rains.
“Building higher flood walls can do the trick,” the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) quoted Mr. Marcos as saying.
He admitted that reforestation efforts alone cannot solve the serious flooding problem during a sectoral meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) – Infrastructure and Digital Infrastructure Sector Groups and other concerned agencies at the Palace on Tuesday.
Mr. Marcos emphasized that the government’s flood control system has become less efficient because of the country’s rising population.
“All garbage ends up in waterways, making pumping stations fail. The watershed areas eventually suffer due to irresponsible garbage disposal,” he added.
As this developed, Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez assured that Congress would pass legislation deemed urgent by the administration.
Escudero said, “Five of these bills [will] be finished and enacted on the part of the Senate and the House before the year ends and before we go on our Christmas break. When we resume, we expect to be able to pass on the part of the Senate about three to five more of these measures.”
“We have reported to the President, to the LEDAC Council that, again, the House of Representatives has accomplished all but two of the priority legislative measures… We are confident that before the year ends, we shall have finished all by December or six months in advance, Romualdez meanwhile said.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Marcos pushes for Water Resources Department.”
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