Sotto suggests desalination as solution to water shortage in Metro Manila

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday suggested desalination as a solution to the current water shortage affecting thousands of people in Metro Manila.

Sotto said the government should start on a desalination plan even if it is expensive. He argued that the state had spent more money on other things.

“Mag-desalination plan na tayo. Bakit ang Saudi Arabia, ang mga Middle East countries, ang lakas ng tubig? Napakaraming tubig?Ginawa nila, nag-desalination sila,” Sotto said in an interview over CNN Philippines.

(Let’s plan desalination. Why is it that Saudi Arabia and Middle East countries have an adequate water supply? They have a lot of water. What they did was desalination.)

Sotto emphasized that desalination is expensive, but the country has been spending big on less important things anyway. He also noted that he has long been pushing to desalinate the country’s vast water sources for supply.

Currently, Metro Manila and the neighboring areas rely on the Angat and La Mesa dams for their water supply.

The Manila Water, which provides water to the eastern zone of the metropolis, has been implementing water supply cuts as the water in La Mesa Dam, its emergency source, dropped below the critical level.

READ: La Mesa Dam breaches critical mark, hits 21-year low

READ: Manila Water issues service cutoff schedule in Metro Manila, Rizal

READ: Dry taps spark outcry

The Senate is set to conduct an investigation into the water shortage in Metro Manila on Tuesday next week. /ee

READ: Senate panel to probe water shortage in Metro Manila, provinces

READ: Sotto: Senate panel to probe water shortage next Tuesday