‘Probe Rainwater Collection Law’s failed implementation’
WITH El Niño and a water crisis looming on the horizon, Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. has filed a resolution urging two committees of the House of Representatives to probe the unsuccessful implementation of a 34-year-old law that requires the construction of rainwater collectors in all barangays.
Under House Resolution (HR) No. 906 that Campos filed, the inquiry into the non-implementation of the Rainwater Collection and Springs Development Law of 1989, or Republic Act No. 6716, will be conducted jointly by the committee on public works and highways and the committee on ecology.
“We want Congress to get to the bottom of the problem so that we can take remedial action, considering that stockpiling rainwater offers a practical way for communities to augment (water) supplies during the dry season, while mitigating potential flooding during the wet season,” Campos said.
“In fact, rainwater harvesting should form part of the national water security roadmap, since we have a lot of rainfall when we are not going through a drought or a dry spell,” Campos said.
Campos also said he is counting on the new Water Resource Management Office (WRMO) to give the highest priority to the installation of rainwater collectors throughout the country.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in February approved the creation of the WRMO as part of the government’s efforts to address what he called a “water crisis” threatening the country.
Last month, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned of an approaching El Niño that has a 55 percent chance of developing in the July-August-September 2023 season and may persist until 2024.
When the Philippines went through an El Niño in 2019, vast parts of the country, including Metro Manila, reeled from a drought that caused widespread water shortages and farm damage, after dams and lakes that supply potable and irrigation water experienced a massive decline in rainfall.
