Manila Water taps educators through SALIN program in celebration of World Water Day

As part of the World Water Day, Manila Water will focus on our educators to raise awareness on water education. The partnership was sealed through a Memorandum of Agreement signed by (from L-R) Manila Water President and CEO Jocot De Dios, Manila Water Chief Operating Officer for the East Zone Arnold Mortera, and DepEd-National Capital Region Regional Director Wilfredo Cabral, represented by DepEd-NCR Policy Planning and Research Division Chief Dr. Warren Ramos, in a ceremony in Manila Water’s Lakbayan Center in Quezon City.

MANILA, Philippines — In celebration of World Water Day on March 22, with the theme “Accelerating Change,” Manila Water launches its latest advocacy that will focus on educators as primary instruments of change as they help raise awareness on the importance of water education in health and the environment.

SALIN – Lakbayan para sa mga Guro Program, is a reinforcement and extension of Manila Water’s Lakbayan Advocacy Program. SALIN, or “Transfer,” is an experiential and educational tour highlighting the sustainability journey of Manila Water, featuring its water trail story, water and wastewater treatment processes alongside other sustainability programs in partnership with the Department of Education.

The partnership was sealed through a Memorandum of Agreement signed by Manila Water President and CEO Jocot De Dios, Manila Water Chief Operating Officer for the East Zone Arnold Mortera, and DepEd-National Capital Region Regional Director Wilfredo Cabral, represented by DepEd-NCR Policy Planning and Research Division Chief Dr. Warren Ramos in a ceremony in Manila Water’s Lakbayan Center in Quezon City.

The ceremony was also attended by Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Corporate Office Administrator Leonor Cleofas, MWSS-RO Assistant Deputy Administrator for Financial Regulation Area Christopher Chuegan and Department of Environment and Natural Resources-NCR Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services Engr. Ignacio Almira.

As part of Manila Water’s efforts to make its programs sustainable, SALIN will be an ongoing program to spread and multiply Manila Water’s advocacy. This partnership with DepEd aims to strengthen the Company’s message to educators, who will then pass it on to their students. As a continuing program, Manila Water will build recall and measure success by the number of areas to cover, which will grow annually.

Manila Water will invite teachers from different public elementary schools within the Company’s service area in NCR to join the Lakbayan, which will be done in batches, with a maximum of 20 teachers per leg. For the next 4 years, over 700 teachers from 170 schools are expected to participate in the SALIN workshop, which will cover the whole water trail from raw water source (Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system) to the treatment process and distribution (water treatment plants) and up to wastewater treatment process (sewage treatment plants).

Manila Water expressed its gratitude to DepEd for supporting its move in accelerating change in the water sector through the empowerment of our educators and learners, inspiring them to take action in their lives to change how they use, consume and manage water.

“This initiative that we are embarking on for the next 4 years, is an intersection of what we do, as a company, a franchise, a utility: one, the provision of water services, to our sustainability agenda, and number 3, our engagements with our stakeholders. By this vehicle that we’re doing, it’s a platform that we hopefully will multiply through the students, with what the teachers will teach until the next few years,” De Dios said.

“In the Department of Education, we are integrating environmental awareness, environmental concern in the curriculum. And it is very timely because last January 30, our Secretary of Education, Vice President Sara Duterte, declared the direction of DepEd for the next 6 years which is the Matatag Agenda and the first agenda is making the curriculum relevant to our learners, for them to be responsible, proactive and responsible citizens of the country,” says Dr. Warren Ramos, DepEd-NCR Policy Planning and Research Division Head.

MWSS Administrator Bobby Cleofas and DENR-NCR Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services Engr. Ignacio Almira also echoed their support for the SALIN program, in light of the challenges related to climate change such as El Nino.

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