News Monitoring 06-25-2019
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
25 JUN 2019 DATE DAY tN mni NmwS Strategic Communication and Initiative Service STRATEGIC P GE 1 BANNER EDITORIAL CARTOON COMMUNICATION STORY STORY INITIATIVES .,„,,systiamer . PAGE LOWER oERVIC 25 JUN 2019 TITLE PAGE I/ DATE to zio masl, which is its normal Concessionaires Manila Wa- ANGAT WATER DROP FROM Al high water level," Flores said. ter Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Pagasa was watching a low- Services Inc. started implement- pressure zone located 6io kilo- ing longer hours of low pressure to no water in their service NO IMMEDIATE sea level (masl), this week if lack meters east of Casiguran. Aurora province, on Monday afternoon. zones during the weekend. of rain persisted. "We are monitoring the wa- Pagasa said at least one to But while it may become a ter level at Angat as well as the RELIEF FROM two storms bringing heavy rain tropical depression in the next 48 hours, Flores said it was expect- weather as we want to avoid would be needed to lift the wa- making decisions on further re- ter level in the dam. ed to recurve and not hit land, WATER SERVICE and would therefore not have a duction of allocation," David The weather bureau said told Monday's news conference. the heavy rain during the week- significant impact on Angat The low pressure, however, MWSS Chair Reynaldo Velas- end was not enough to replen- co said the limited supply need- INTERRUPTIONS ish the reserve, the elevation of could induce the southwest mon- soon, which may bring rains over ed to be managed so that all cus- By Ronnel W. Domingo which was recorded at 158.92 tomers would have water even masl on Monday afternoon, the Angat watershed, Flores said. and Jhesset 0. Enano "Based on our records, we for only several hours a day. marking a decrease of 0.53 me- @Teaminquirer expect the watershed to begin its "What is important is that ters from the previous day. people get the water at their Danilo Flores, a hydrologist recovery by mid-July," he said. Metro Manilans can expect longer That agrees with the homes, without the need to water service interruptions in the with Pagasa, said the recent wait for tanker trucks on the rains were due to localized thun- NWRB's calculation, necessi- coming weeks as the reserve in tating shorter water service in street," Velasco said. Angat Dam may not rise to nor- derstorms, not heavy or consis- Metro Manila. "We ask the concession- mal levels until early July. tent enough to refill the data - aires to follow the schedules To raise Angat's elevation The board first reduced sup- Angat Dam, in Bulacan ply to the MWSS from the nor- they announced," he said. province, supplies 97 percent of back to its minimum operating mal flow of 48 cubic meters per "For consumers, we ask Metro Manila's water needs. level of i8o masl, at least 400 second to 46 cms on June i. them to store the amount of Sevillo David, executive di- millimeters of rain would be water that they actually need rector of the National Water Re- needed, falling right on the [and not hoard]," he added. dam's watershed, he said. Supply cuts sources Board (NWRB), told a On June zo, the supply was news briefing on Monday that Metro daily supply Low pressure watched further reduced to 40 cms as reduced water allocation from Angat prepared for low-water- In Bulacan, Patrick James Angat to the Metropolitan Wa- "Based on our records, we Dizon, MWSS division manag- need at least one to two storms level operations. terworks and Sewerage System On June 22, the MWSS sup- er, said water supply for Metro (MWSS) would be maintained to bring it back to the minimum ply was cut yet again as the re- Manila would be reduced to 33 up to at least the end of June. operating level and at least serve fell below i6o mast billion liters until June 30. The Philippine Atmospheric, three to four storms to refill it Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on Monday said the Angat re- serve could hit its lowest m. level, 157.57 meters above A4 STRATEGIC zPAGE I BANNER EDITORIAL CARTOON COMMUNICATION STORY STORY INITIATIVES PAGE LOWER SERVICE NouRolar 25 JUN 2019 TITLE PAGE I/ DATE Rain during the last 24 hour shortage in March, merited a raised the stock at Ipo Dam by 1 harsher rebuke and a deeper cm to 99.81 mast as of Monday congressional inquiry. morning, closer to its minimum "We have given [the] MWSS maintaining level of tin masl. enough time to solve the persis- At Bustos Dam, also in Bula- tent problems with their public can, the reserve dropped from utility services," she said. 13.69 masl on Sunday to 13.90 "Since the regulators have mast on Monday, way below its either been slow or inept or spilling level of 17.90 masl. both at doing ,their job, we shall Ipo and Bustos dams catch file a bill that [would] prescribe water released by Angat for ir- details of their regulatory pow- rigation. ers," Dy said. "Public utility dec- The reserve at La Mesa Dam laration for water concession- in Quezon City also rose by i cm aires has long been overdue." to 68.66 masl, nearer to its criti- In a protest action in Que- cal level of 69 masl. zon City, Bayan Muna chair Neri The House of Representa- Colmenares and Bayan Muna tives is looking into the water Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate de- shortage in the metropolis, cried the failure of privatization with officials of Manila Water and called for "renationaliza- and Maynilad invited to the tion" of the water service. opening hearing on Tuesday. "There is no water security under privatization and this Public utilities will get worse unless the gov- On Monday, Bagong Hen- ernment acts now. We have al- erasyon Rep. Bernadette Her- ways asserted that privatiza- rera-Dy called for making .the tion is wrong," Zarate said. two concessionaires public "We must abandon privatiza- utilities to make them subject tion and [the] government should to the rules of public service take over these water [conces- and to the auditing authority of sionaires] to ensure not just wa- the Commission on Audit. ter security but also transparen- Dy said the "second round" cy and accountability," he added. of water service cutoffs in —WITH REPORTS FROM DJ YAP AND Metro Manila, following a CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE INQ I I I I I I 81111A1 P 1 BANNER EDITORIAl CARTOON COM AWN WATION I TORT STORY g%„..,••••••••ER INIIIA RIVES PAGE TOWER RTIRm"einif SERVICE 25 JUN 2019 DATE PAGE I/ TITER : t. It was in July 2010 when Angat," he added. Angat Dam registered its low- Velasco said the heavy Angat est level of 157.57 meters. It downpour over the weekend The construction of the was among the worst El Nifio did little to help in improving Sumag Diversion project, episodes in the country. water level in the dam. which is "70 percent com- recovery "As of now, we cannot as- plete," was stopped in 2016 af- sure when we can return sup- Water crisis ter an accident took place that ply to normal, considering hearing claimed the lives of six workers to take 3 the low water level in Angat. The House of Representa- at the construction site. tives oversight committee Senate President Vicente months That's why we are also trying will resume today its hearing Sotto DI has vowed to increase to maintain and prepare our on the water crisis in Metro funding for long-tern t water se- system so as not to have ad- By LOUISE MAUREEN SIMEON Manila brought about by the curity projects and proposed to ditional reduction," NWRB breaching of the critical water the Duterte administration to executive director Sevillo Da- support public-private partner- Despite recent heavy rains, level of Angat Dam in Bulacan. vid Jr. said. Outgoing Speaker Gloria ship programs for the same, the public must continue cop- Water allocation for con- such as desalination plants. ing with unstable water sup- Macapagal-Arroyo initiated cessionaires Maynilad Water the hearing due to the pro- He said the country should ply as the recovery of Angat Services Inc. and Manila Water not suffer from dry spells if Dam, Metro Manila's main longed water shortage, as the Co. Inc. has been slashed to 36 creation of a Department of there are desalination plants, source of water, will take three cubic meters per second (CMS) which are common in the more months. Water will also be included in from 40 CMS. the agenda as the committee Middle East and nearby coun- In a joint briefing yesterday, This is a huge cut from the tries like Singapore. the Philippine Atmospheric, tries to evaluate the issues for average allocation of 48 CMS the next Congress to act upon. Sen. Grace Poe, who led Geophysical and Astronomi- on normal days. She said Local Water the inquiry into the recent wa- cal Services Administration "We will look at it once Utilities Administration ter shortage in Metro Manila (PAGASA) said the water level Angat starts recovering and (LWUA) acting administrator as chair of the public ser- in Angat Dam would normal- see if we can start reviewing Jeci Lapus was seeking govern- vices committee, lamented ize at 180 meters by September to slowly increase the alloca- ment help and solution for the the water crisis appeared to or October, given the rain situ- tion again. But for now, we Angat Dam water problem as have worsenedt despite as- ation over the past days.