Water brings health and wealth to Alfonso XIII

MANILA, Philippines - For a long time, residents of Barangay Alfonso XIII, a village in the province of Palawan, had to stand in long lines with plastic buckets for their turn at the water truck, public faucets or deep wells to get their supply of water at two o’clock in the morning, everyday. Fights often broke out.

In November 2003, however, things changed when water began to flow from taps installed in their homes. Children were cleaner and healthier; residents could bathe anytime. The incidence of diarrhea, urinary tract infection and dengue went down.

“Finally,” said Wilson Paciones, manager of the Alfonso XIII Water Users’ Association (AWUA), “without having to line up for water into the wee hours of the morning, residents could go to bed early and get enough sleep.”

Alfonso XIII is a farming and fishing community 148 kilometers from Puerto Princesa, the provincial capital. Until 2003, it had no water system, no drainage and hardly any toilets.

In 2002, Alfonso XIII was one of 10 barangays chosen by the provincial government to benefit from Phase 1 of the Water Districts Development Project (WDDP), which got a P200-million funding from the World Bank.

In the early stages of the project, Rey Ancheta, head of the Project Management Office of the WDDP, pushed for a demand-driven approach where the community itself could identify their needs, plan and monitor the project, thus creating ownership.

Ancheta said, “We learned from the mistakes of the past when projects were imposed by government with no users’ consultations, resulting in poor acceptance, poor utilization and poor operation and maintenance. In most cases, such projects were not sustainable and were eventually abandoned. ”

They got the entire community involved in the consultation process. A project team composed of a representative from the Sangguniang Barangay, the Municipal Environment Officer, the Municipal Project Development Officer and the Municipal Health Officer oriented barangay officials. Next, a team representing the beneficiaries was trained to survey the community’s needs and whether residents were willing to connect to the water system and pay for their water. The community also had to discuss how to contribute land, labor, materials and cash.

When the residents and local officials approved the engineering design, construction began with the community closely monitoring its progress. The system initially served 371 connections but by May 2009, coverage had expanded to three other areas within the village and 650 users.

The AWUA is now run by 18 of the residents who took the lead in the project. For the association and the community, the cash inflow is proving to be just as sweet as the water now flowing from their faucets.

A resort with a swimming pool bought water in bulk; an ice plant supplies fishermen with ice for packing live fish for export; and a water filling station has opened selling bottled water sourced from AWUA.

The Association reports a steady collection rate of 90 percent. Its gross income has grown steadily from P716,024 in 2004 to P2.28 million in 2008. In May 2009, AWUA reported an average gross monthly income of P200,000.

Eighty per cent of its net revenues are remitted to the provincial government as a trust fund for major expenses such as upgrading and repairs. The rest is kept in a local bank for operating expenses such as salaries, office supplies, chemicals, maintenance, and outreach and community assistance programs.

In its newly built office, the association displays its financial statement, publicly reporting earnings and expenses. Such transparency, coupled with efficient services and an enviable collection rate, serves AWUA well. Alfonso XIII is considered the best run among the ten barangay water systems under WDDP.

Recently, the AWUA was tapped by Pilipinas Water, a Cebu-based company, to run the municipal water system that it will construct for the municipality. Under the arrangement, AWUA will purchase bulk water from Pilipinas Water to re-sell to households that will be covered by the new system. This will bring coverage by the association to 2,000 households, including the poblacion and the whole of Barangay Alfonso XIII.

The WDDP has indeed brought health, wealth and status to Alfonso XIII.

This article is based on materials published by the World Bank Philippines in www.worldbank.org.ph