Don’t just buy a pail to collect rainwater before the very strong El Niño. Be sure to cover it against egg-laying mosquitos. Or sprinkle some detergent. That way you’ll avoid spreading deadly dengue in your community.
Government will teach us to filter rainwater, President Bongbong Marcos says. Simplest is to cover gutters and downspouts with plastic or stainless-steel screens to catch leaves and twigs.
A screened bucket can also serve as first-flush diverter to a drum. It eliminates dust and bird droppings from initial roof runoff. Those who have land space can dig multi-chamber greywater cisterns.
Collect water from sinks, showers, baths and washing machines. Use it to water plants, wash cars and flush toilets.
Don’t panic-buy bottled water, rice, canned foods, soap, alcohol, wet wipes. Mass hysteria can artificially shorten supply and drive prices up, warns Steven Cua, president of Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association.
BBM can focus on big-ticket items like:
• Order DPWH, provincial governors, city/municipal mayors and barangay chairmen to enforce once and for all RA 6716.
Since March 1989 the law required the construction and rehab of water wells and rainwater collectors and development of springs in all barangays. Target was 100,000 wells in all barangays by June 1991.
Yet in 2013, DPWH reported only 754 rainwater collection systems were built, Rep. Lorna Velasco lamented. That’s only 0.018 percent of the total 42,010 barangays. From July 2022 to May 2023 DPWH completed 6,002, only 6.02 percent, of the 100,000 target.
Rainwater collectors are easy to make, environmentalist-lawyer Tony Oposa has advocated for decades. In rural areas, simply identify the lowest public lands. Dig a pond into which rainwater naturally can flow.
It can be, say, 10 x 10 meters, one meter deep. Throw in kangkong for vegetation, and tilapia or gourami to feed on mosquito larvae. Plant shade trees and install benches to make it a barangay park. Small entrepreneurs can even offer kiddie boat rides.
Residents can draw water from the pond for home cleaning, gardening and to wet dusty barangay roads. To concrete the pond, DPWH can provide knowhow while the munisipyo or rich neighbors can contribute cement, sand, gravel.
DPWH has several water collector designs. Easiest to make for urban barangays are stainless steel storage tanks mounted on concrete bases or elevated platforms. Rainwater runoff is collected from gutters and downspouts of barangay halls, public school buildings, markets and health clinics. Faucets can be connected to pipes from the catchments.
Such projects are definitely usable by communities – unlike fake and substandard flood controls that waste billions of pesos from which politicos plunder.
• Promote cool roofing in all neighborhoods.
Elementary science teaches that dark-colored clothing absorbs while light-colored ones reflect heat. Apply this principle to roofing. Encourage the use of light-colored roofs for homes, shops, offices, malls, markets, schools, churches, hotels, factories. Convince makers of long-span and galvanized iron sheets to produce materials in light colors: white, beige, light gray, seafoam green.
Global research have shown that light-colored roofs reduce indoor temperatures by 2.2 to 4.3 degrees Celsius. With shade trees and cool roofing technology, entire city temperatures can drop 1.2 to 3 degrees Celsius. One recent study is by World Resources Institute, Oct. 1, 2026.
Local government units can help fund light-colored roof repainting in all communities. The Climate Change Commission under the Office of the President and DOST can come up with inexpensive cool-roof technologies.
BBM and Congress can take a step further by imposing higher taxes on sale and registration of dark-colored vehicles. Apply this not only to cars, trucks, buses, jeepneys. Include trains, ships, boats, barges.
• Enforce the 2004 Clean Water Act.
BBM must ensure that DENR and National Water Resources Board designate water quality management areas, and protect watersheds and river basins.
He can encourage local governments and conglomerates to clean up waterways. San Miguel Corp. chairman Ramon S. Ang spends P1 billion a year to dredge Pasig, Tullahan and San Juan Rivers and tributaries. Up to two million tons of garbage are removed yearly. BBM can tell other multibillionaires to replicate SMC’s volunteerism in other regions.
BBM can ask governors and mayors to also replicate Quezon City’s Trash-to-Cashback. Under the program, QCitizens exchange recyclable paper, plastic and metal for environmental points. The points can be traded for sandwich spreads, canned fish and meat, rice, eggs, bread, fruits, vegetables, sugar, even toiletries, depending on their corresponding value.
BBM can ensure Cabinet and local government implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2008 order to keep Manila Bay pristine.
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