President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. advocates for the establishment of a Department of Water Resources in hopes to reorganize water management in the Philippines.
“It’s a department because we are going to reorganize everything. But the original idea was that we will reorganize the entire water management process in the Philippines," Marcos said during the 6th Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council’s (LEDAC) meeting at the Malacañang Palace on Wednesday.
This statement was made in response to a question about whether the president intends to establish the water resources department as an "umbrella agency" rather than an independent one.
The President remarked that he prefers that flood control duties be assigned to the water resources department, alongside the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) as a coordinating agency.
Furthermore, he emphasized that water-related issues, such as flooding and irrigation, cannot be effectively tackled in isolation, highlighting the necessity of developing a comprehensive strategy.
“The mayor of a municipality will only think about what’s happening in their municipality. But water just not work that way. Hindi nangingilala ng boundary ang tubig, kung saan-saan. Basta kung saan ‘yung puwedeng daanan, dumadaan doon,” said Marcos.
Meanwhile, Marcos informed Senate President Francis Escudero that Malacañang will prepare an executive version of the Department of Water Resources bill.
Escudero noted that the executive version of the Department of Water Resources bill will be utilized for discussions in the Senate.
