Proposed department for water management up to next admin

MANILA, Philippines — The establishment of a Department of Water Resources (DWR) may need to wait until the next president is elected, as lawmakers are now expected to focus their efforts on enacting the 2022 national budget and campaigning for the next elections.

In an interview with reporters yesterday, Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) acting administrator Jeci Lapus said the House of Representatives is poised to legislate a measure that would create a department for the management of water resources.

However, he said the plan lacks support from members of the Senate, most of whom believe the proposed agency will just add another layer to the bureaucracy.

“The Department of Water [Resources], it has passed Congress appropriation, and it is now due for plenary. They have to the get the signal from the Senate, however, as the Senate thinks it is another bureaucracy, contrary to our idea that it is streamlining,” Lapus said.

“We are still hoping for its passage. However, since the elections is just around the corner and the budget is coming in, I don’t think it’s possible,” he said.

He said the move to set up a DWR may need to wait for a new set of lawmakers and president who may want to include the legislation as part of their priority agenda.

Filed by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, House Bill (HB) 4944 seeks to create the DWR with the intention of consolidating the functions of roughly 30 agencies regulating the country’s water resources.

HB 4944 will require P2 billion to put up the new department, which will be tasked to plan the programs, formulate the policies and manage the water resources of the country.

Likewise, it will create the Water Regulatory Commission, an independent regulatory and quasi-judicial body, under the DWR. At least P300 million is needed to set up the commission.

Some agencies with a role in management of water resources, including the River Basin Control Office and Manila Bay Coordinating Office under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, will surrender their power to the DWR. A few, on the other hand, will be transferred as an attached agency of the DWR.

They are: Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, LWUA, Laguna Lake Development Authority, Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and National Irrigation Administration.

According to Lapus, the only way that legislators may agree to create the DWR is if President Duterte certifies as urgent the bill establishing the proposed office.