News Monitoring 03 15 2019

DATE . •5 r!AN 2019 DAY : ,Frldo INT rryi-F. NTE,ws Strategic Communication and Initiative Service STRATEGIC LEI LII Li COMMUNICATION PAGE I BANNER EDITORIAL CARTOON STORY STORY el%veNEWRIIMI INITIATIVES PAGE LOWER EIREIESEIMMIWason. SERVICE BusinesslVlirror 15 MAR 2019 PAGE I/ DATE Govt to seed clouds 1k to boost water in dams Jalad 'said that the agricul- BT RENE ACOSTA ture department reported that Mesa Dam," he added. W ®reneacostaBM El Nino has already resulted in To remedy the problem, a production loss of P464.3 mil- technical working group which HE government will con- included the MWSS, National duct cloud-seeding op- lion and volume loss of P22.918 million in the agriculture sector Irrigation Administration, the Terations in Regions 2 and weather bureau Pagasa, Manila 12 to counter the ill effects of El as of March 8. "[The] total area affected has Water and the other concession- Nieto, which a water concession- aire, Maynilad, has "committed aire blamed for the water-supply reached 18,679 hectares, affecting 13,679 farmers in.... Regions 9,10, to continue their close coordina- interruption in the eastern part of tion to ensure that water-supply Metro Manila. 11,12, Mirnaropa and BARMM. DA conductedfieldvalidation to assess releases from the Angat Dam are National Disaster Risk Reduc- optimized." tion and Management Council the damage and losses and contin- ues to monitor standing crops in "Cross border gate opening Executive Director Ricardo Jalad shall be done in which 50 MLD said the operations will be con- areas at risk," he said. Severai areas, including Zam- [millions of liters per day] from ducted by planes of the Philippine Maynilad will be delivered to Ma- Air Force in coordination with the boanga city, the province of Zam- boanga Sibugay, Pagadian City and nila Water. MWSS also presented Department of Agriculture (DA) its contingency plans, which in- following the release of P18.3 mil- San Jose in Occidental Mindoro have already declared a state of clude rotating water supply and lion for the activity. Pressure management, energiza- The cloud seeding, which will calamity due to the effects of the El Niiio-spawned drought. tion of Cardona Water Treatment be carried out until March 21 to plant on March 31,2019, that can induce much-need rain, was sup- Other measures provide an additional 50 MLD," posed to have been initiated on DURING the meeting, the council Jalad said. Thursday, according to Jalad, but also discussed the prevailingprob- Among others, the technical the Air Force through its spokes- lem ofwater supplythathas already working group agreed to go for man, Major Aristides Galang, affected more than a million resi- a "nonrevenue" water recovery, said they could only commence dents in the eastern part of Metro utilization of backwash from wa- the operation on Saturday or Manila, most of whom have been ter-treatment plant and deploy- Sunday as the Nomad planes were forced to line up for water rations, ment of water tankers and mobile still being prepared along with especially in the cities of Pasig and water-treatment plants "in which the equipment. Mandaluyong. five units shall come from Manila "So most probably, it is still ten- zJalad said, however, that the Water andthree standbyunits from tative [if it's] on Saturday or Sun- Department of Environment and Maynilad." day, and then the initial area will Natural Resources reported that The MWSS would also activate be Cauayan, Isabela," Galang said, Angat Dam, the main source of wa- its backup deep wells in case there adding that the cloud seeding will ter for Metro Manila, is still within would be need to augment the wa- be undertaken by the 900th Air its normal operating levelat 199.94 ter supply. Force Weather Group. meters of elevation compared to its "On this, hospitals with standby The cloud-seeding activities minimum operating level at 180 deep wellwill be the priority," Jalad were agreed upon by the council in a meters. said. meetinglateWednesdayafternoon. "The decline of La Mesa Dam, Also, the Department of the In- The Department of Social Welfare according to MWSS [Metropoli- terior and Local Government will and Development reported at the tan Waterworks and Sewerage issue a memorandum that will re- meeting it has allocated a standby System], is caused by the increase quire local government units to fund of P11.8 million for family in water-treatment production enact ordinances that would curb food packs as well as cash-for-work of Manila Water. The water al- illegal connections and encourages programs. location of Manila Water from the prudent use of water. MWSS sourced from Angat Dam The ordinances would allow wa- is 18.5 cubic meters per second ter concessionaires and water utili- [1600 million liters per day]," ties to conduct emergency repair of Jalad said. leaks. "The water demand from Ma- nila Water consumers, however, has increased to 20.25 cms [1750 million liters per day], forcing the latter to source the deficit from La 6.4.&STRATEGIC I 11 1=1 1=1 COMMUNICATION UPPER PAGE 1 BANNER EDITORIAL CARTOON STORY STORY wagaSTWIMIR INITIATIVES PAGE LOWER 11.1111.11SMIW SERVICE BusinessMinor 15 MAR 2019 PAGE If DATE 2/2, At Camp Crame, National Police 'chief Police General Oscar Albay- alde has directed all police units in areas affected by the temporary Water shortage in Metro Manila and Rizal to observe water-conserva- tion measures in all camps and offices to help avert a possible water crisis in Luzon at the onset of the dry season. PNP spokesman Police Colo- nel Bernard Banac said Albayal- de ordered headquarters support units in camps and facilities affected to detail inspectors who will check on wasteful or unnec- essary water usage. "Local PNP units are directed to ensure safety and security of water-service providers against unruly crowd andpersons who may want to provoke chaos in the water- distribution points," Albayalde's directive read. 'Black Friday' SAYAN said it wilbatage a "Black Friday protest" against Manila Wa- ter and MWSS over what it saidwas Manila Water's "corporate greed" that has caused the current water crisis in Metro Manila. "The claim that El Nino is tb blame for the crisis has been ex- posed as a big fat lie. Manila Water has been expanding its customer base even if current facilities are un- able to meet the growing demand. It is Manila Water's obligation to provide the needs of its customers. It has failed to do so," Bayan said in a statement. "Manila Water earned a whop- ping P6.5 billion in 2018 and an- other P6.5 billion in 2017. It was even granted a rate hike of P6.50 per cubic meter spread over five years. It has expanded its operations overseas to include Indone- sia, Thailand And Vietnam. Yet it has failed to provide the necessary facilities to meet the demands in its concession area in Metro Ma- nila," it added. STRATEGIC TLIIL Pa BRACE HOC PAGET BANNER ITORIAL CARTOON UPPER COATTLIUN [CATION STORY STORY giiiim.0111111111111 INITIATIVES PAGE LOWER suRsigallir SERVICE MANILAt 13ULLETIN 'me THE NATION'S LEADING NEWSPAPER :15 MAR 2019 DATE HUE PAGE I/ La Mesa Dam water at its lowest Cloud-seeding operations in Regions 2 and 12 begin By ELLALYN DE VERA-RU1Z PAGASA hydrologist Sonia Ser- to significantly drop due to a weak El and FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD rano said the new-low was recorded Nino. Thursday, breaching the 68.75 meters Water level at Angat Dam - which a Mesa Dam's water level is in 1998. funnels water to Ipo Dam and then to now down to 68.74 meters, its The lack of rainfall over the La Mesa La Mesa Dam - remains high at 199.63 lowest in 21 years, the Philip- watershed has contributed to the-dwin- meters as of Thursday. It is still above pine Atmospheric, Geophysi- dling level of the water reservoir. its minimum operating level of 180 cal,L and Astronomical Services Admin- PAGASA had earlier said the rainfall meters. istration (PAGASA) said Thursday received by the country could continue To help mitigate the effects 0'13 serves Sto. Nino and Norala towns, La Mesa Dam water... 1 1 is currently closed due to periodic maintenance and will not reopen of the El Ntho, the National Disaster in Koronadal City and the municipali- until May. Risk Reduction and Management ties of Tupi, Norala, and Lake Sebu. For the communal irrigation sys- Council (NDRRMC) said that cloud- "We're hoping that the dry spell tems (CIS), he said the water levels seeding operations started Thursday will not extend to (a) few more months have dropped to as low as 30 percent in Regions 2 and 12. or we will really have a big problem based on their latest monitoring. Undersecretary Ricardo B. Jalad, here," Tibang said in a press brief- Those severely affected were the Civil Defense administrator and ing. CIS facilities in Sitio Supon, Barangay NDRRMC executive director, said the In the case of the Marbel 2 RIS, San Jose in Koronadal City, Barangay cloud-seeding operations have been he said a significant portion of its Tinago in Norala and in Lake Sebu scheduled from March 14 to May 21, 1,700-hectare service area has so far town, he said. 2019, after conducting joint area as- been affected by the decreasing water If the dry spell, which is spawned sessments. supply. by the El Nino phenomenon, would Jalad said P18.3 million has been The irrigation facility, which cov- extend until June or July, Tibang released to the Department of Agri- ers portions of Koronadal City and said a significant portion of the area's culture (DA) regional offices for the Lutayan town in Sultan Kudarat, has irrigated farms would be severely cloud-seeding operations in partner- only served some 729 hectares of affected.

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