Water management priority of new admin

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu must prioritize water conservation and management to boost its agricultural productivity, according to former Agriculture secretary and now Governor-elect Pamela Baricuatro’s food security adviser, Manny Piñol.

“One of the biggest challenges for Cebu’s Food Security Program is the availability and sustainability of water supply,” Piñol said via his verified social media account.

Cebu is home to only 10 major rivers, many of which are heavily silted or polluted, Piñol said.

Piñol cited the Butuanon River --the province’s longest-- which was declared "biologically dead" in 1992 by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources due to extreme pollution.

As noted in ResearchGate, the river continues to suffer from contamination caused by domestic sewage, solid waste dumping, and industrial runoff.

Emphasizing that “food grows where water flows!” Piñol proposed a comprehensive Water Management and Conservation Program, along with an upland re-greening initiative.

These, he said, are vital to securing Cebu’s long-term agricultural resilience.

The Water Management and Conservation Program will focus on the construction of water catchments for rainwater runoff, as well as the development of levees and mini-dams to store water during dry periods.

Complementing this is the re-greening program that would involve planting fruit trees and giant bamboo in upland areas --not only to provide economic returns but also to aid water retention during heavy rains.

“If and when implemented, the Water Management and Conservation Program coupled with a practical re-Greening Strategy could make Cebu the first province in the whole country to stand as a model of a sustainable and environment-friendly agriculture,” Pinol said.

These initiatives are expected to reinforce the province’s new food security blueprint under Governor-elect Baricuatro.

Dubbed “Pagkaon Alang sa Masa (PAM)”, the strategy centers on three pillars: identifying Cebuano households’ daily food needs, empowering local producers to fulfill those demands, and reforming supply chains to reduce dependence on middlemen and imports. — (FREEMAN)