Police step in on Mandaluyong water distribution

Fights among people waiting in line, a Mandaluyong resident says, are common. They argue over who is first in line and how many containers one can fill up. INQUIRER FILE / JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines – The police will help maintain order in the distribution of water in Mandaluyong, the city’s police director Senior Supt. Moises Villaceran said Wednesday.

Mandaluyong is among the hardest hit by the water crisis with all barangays receiving low water pressure to none.

Villaceran said his men would coordinate with the heads of the barangays in the distribution of water.

“All areas in Mandaluyong may problema sa tubig. All [barangay] chairmen are advised to facilitate the distribution of water with the presence of the police,” he said.

“Mayroon schedule of distribution [because] all [barangays] have their own firetruck,” he added.

Only Barangay Plainview had no firetruck because the Bureau of Fire Protection is based at the Maysilo Circle which covers the village.

Mandaluyong and other cities and towns within the concession area of Manila Water in the east zone have been experiencing water shortage since Saturday amid a sharp decline in the water level at the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City.

READ: Water levels in La Mesa, Angat, Ipo dams drop

According to Richard Orendain, a Pagasa hydrologist, the water level may yet break its lowest ever recorded, which was 68.75 meters in 1998. /cbb

READ: La Mesa Dam level hits lowest point so far in 2019