MANILA - President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday called for accelerated effort from government agencies, private sector and stakeholders to prepare for the El Niño phenomenon, which is expected to be felt in the country until the 2nd quarter of 2024.

During the inauguration of Maynilad’s Poblacion Water Treatment Plant in Muntinlupa City, Marcos stressed the need to further capacitate to ensure adequate water supply throughout the dry spell. He said the country has a “good buffer” of water supply until the end of first quarter next year.

The President urged the government and water concessionaires to prioritize the repair of water pipes and the completion of ongoing water supply projects.

“I do not mean to frighten anyone off, but it (El Nino) is a serious problem. But we are familiar with the capabilities of both private sector and public sector, put us together and there's much that we can do and let us do that… Hiling ko ang pakikilahok ng bawat isa upang mapatibay ang ating mga imprastraktura at mapabuti ang kalagayan ng ating mga mamamayan,” Marcos Jr. said.

“Let us call upon the pertinent [government] agencies to intensify their vigilance in overseeing the construction of water supply facilities, particularly in regions grappling with water scarcity… I invite the private sector once more to further explore opportunities to collaborate with government in addressing our water supply challenges,” he added.

“We must prepare and apply some of the lessons that we have learned during the pandemic, when it came to supply of agricultural products, of food, of the efficiencies of the supply chain. All of these will be affected if our water resources are inadequate. And that is why we have now begun in government a very accelerated effort to prepare for that,” Marcos Jr. noted.

The President stressed that ensuring the availability of water in households, industries and agriculture is not a service, but a right of the people.

“Although we refer to water and the supply of water as a service, I am of the view that is in fact a right of our people to be able to expect their government to put systems into place so that water is available to all households, to industry, to agriculture,” he said.

The Poblacion Water Treatment Plant is Maynilad’s third water treatment facility that draws water from Laguna Lake. It is designed to produce 150 million liters per day at full capacity, and will serve customers in Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa and Cavite. For this month, the plant is set to produce an initial 50 million liters per day, and it is targeted to be in full operation by the first half of 2024.

“Today’s inauguration also diversifies our pump water sources away from Angat Dam, which will help during bouts of supply scarcity, especially in light of the incoming El Niño,” Maynilad Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in his speech.

Maynilad also plans to build a desalination plant in Iloilo City, which will have an initial capacity of 65 million liters per day.

“We have decided to build the first desalination plant in this country, in Iloilo City, to be built on vacant land in our power plant in Iloilo City. So it will be plug and play plant. It will… help alleviate the water supply situation in the city itself. We would hope, if successful in building that desal plant, that we are able to replicate that in the other island cities of this country,” Pangilinan said.