ILOILO CITY: This city has so far delivered over 7.36 million liters of water to 102 barangays affected by water scarcity due to the El Niño phenomenon.
‘Though the rainy season has started, we are not yet out of the woods because some of our residents still experience water shortage, thus we continue to deliver free water,’ General Services Office head engineer Niel Ravena said in a statement on Friday.
Iloilo City has allocated PHP12.5 million from its quick response fund for the purchase and distribution of water after it was placed under a state of calamity on April 22.
The free water distribution under the city’s Oplan Bulig Tubig sa Syudad (BTS) is on top of the 10,000 cubic meters of water donated by the Flo Water Resources Inc. and Bombo Radyo Foundation Inc., in partnership with Iloilo City Fire Station, and volunteer groups Federation Fire Iloilo and Iloilo Citizens Action Group.
As of June 20, more than 1.057 million liters of the donated water have been delivered to 66 barangays in the city.
Mayor Jerry Treñas has earlier expressed his concern over the water crisis in the city.
He already met with Metro Iloilo Water District and Metro Pacific Iloilo Water, its biggest water suppliers, and other water stakeholders like South Balibago Water and Flo Water Resources, to discuss the water supply issues and explore potential solutions.
‘We are exploring possible solutions to expand and add more water in different barangays to ensure it is accessible to all the Ilonggos. Water supply has been a consistent problem. Thus, I encourage different stakeholders to help. I am committed to supporting them,’ he said.
Source: Philippines News agency
