Group questions Iloilo City declaration of calamity state

ILOILO CITY—When city officials declared a state of calamity due to the water shortage last week, poor residents could only cast doubt on the news.

“Residents have been suffering from lack of water even before Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog was elected into office. Why only now? Is it because of the elections next year?” asked Maura Abellon, chair of the Kalipunan ng Damayan ng Mahirap (Kadamay) in Panay and Guimaras.

In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, the city council, which is dominated by Mabilog’s allies, granted the mayor’s request to place the city under a state of calamity. It cited that 56 of the 180 villages were suffering from various levels of water shortage due to the inability of the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) to meet consumers’ needs.

The water shortage has affected 172,863 residents, or 39 percent of the population of 447,562, according to the resolution. Of the villages experiencing the problem, only 14 are being serviced by water tankers, it added.

Declaring a calamity state will allow the city government to release 5 percent of its calamity fund for measures to augment the water supply.

Mabilog said some P2 million would be used to increase the volume of water supplied by delivery tracks to the villages. He said this was only a temporary measure until the bulk water supply project of the MIWD and a private concessionaire is implemented.

The water supply problem has been attributed to the lack of additional sources. The MIWD supplies at least 31,000 subscribers in Iloilo City and the towns of Oton, Pavia, Sta. Barbara, Cabatuan, Maasin and San Miguel.

For years, Abellon said the city government had failed to effectively address the problem despite repeated demands of residents.

She said the calamity funds could be used to increase the political stock of incumbent officials seeking reelection in the May 2013 elections. Water delivery trucks are plastered with streamers bearing the images of Mabilog and his political allies, she added.

Kadamay said both the national and city government should address the water shortage without turning over the water supply system to private investors.

“Private entities cannot be entrusted with basic social services because their prime consideration in business is to rake maximum profits unlike public utilities, which are answerable to the public and is subject to the Commission on Audit review,” Abellon said.

“Privatized water utilities tend to increase fees without concern to the public welfare,” she said. Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas