Manila Water and its social development arm, Manila Water Foundation, through its Agapay: WASH for Emergencies Program, have been coordinating with private organizations and government agencies, to bring the much-needed drinking water to affected communities in Batangas and in the Bicol Region.
MANILA, Philippines – Since the start of the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, Manila Water and its social development arm, Manila Water Foundation (MWF), have been mobilizing its disaster-relief program called Agapay: WASH in Emergencies to hard-hit areas in Batangas and Bicol Region, as well as Rizal Province.
Agapay: WASH (water access, sanitation, and hygiene) in Emergencies is a disaster response and relief program that distributes drinking water and deploys water tankers or mobile treatment plants to typhoon- and disaster-affected areas.
To make this possible, MWF has been coordinating with its partners, Maris Pure, Metrobank Foundation, Angat Buhay, Ayala Foundation, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, League of Corporate Foundations, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, Mobile Force Battalion of the Eastern Police District, 11th CMO Battalion of the Philippine Army, and the Philippine Air Force, to bring the much-needed drinking water to storm-damaged towns in Batangas and Bicol Region.
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Under the Agapay Program, Manila Water Foundation has so far dispatched 5,400 units of five-gallon potable water and 500 survival kits to Camarines Sur, Albay, and Batangas. The Foundation has also delivered potable water to evacuation centers in Binangonan, Rizal, through Manila Water’s Pasig Service Area.
Manila Water, for its part, deployed three 10-cubic-meter water tankers and a motorboat to Camarines Sur towns, namely Sipocot, Milaor, Naga City, Magarao, Gainza, Camaligan, Baao, Calabanga, Bato, Bula, and Nabua, and to Legazpi, Polangui and Oas in Albay.
Each of the five-gallon bottled water allows a family of five to have sufficient drinking water for 2-3 days and reuse the bottle to store water. The water tanker operations, on the other hand, ration to communities that lost water supply services due to devastating conditions.
“In times of emergencies and disasters, safe drinking water and hygiene become extremely crucial in safeguarding the health and welfare of affected communities. That is why the company, through Manila Water Foundation, has been working day-in and day-out with our private sector partners and government agencies, to bring these vital needs to hard-hit areas,” Manila Water Foundation’s Program Manager Bess Par said.