Santos, Anthony

GEPCOMM – EM5
Topic: SDG # 6 Clean Water and Sanitation

LACK OF CLEAN WATER IN

THE PHILIPPINES
1. Introduction/background
1.1 Situation of clean water access
of Filipinos in the country

1.1.1 “Out of 105 million

Filipinos, nearly seven
million rely on
unimproved, unsafe and
unsustainable water
sources and more than
24 million lack access to
improved sanitation.
Families without a safe
water source in or near
their home often spend
significant time and
energy collecting water.
Those without a sanitary
toilet facility at home face
a number of unattractive
choices, including
venturing out at night or
suffering the
embarrassment of asking
to use the toilet of a
neighbor.” (water.org)

1.1.2 “According to a 2005 report

published by the United
Nations' Department of
Economic and Social
Affairs, around 25
Filipinos die every day
from diarrhea caused by
poor water sanitation.”
(Child Fund)

1.1.3 “In the Philippines, 91% of the

country’s estimated 100.7
 million population have access
to at least basic water
services; but access is highly
inequitable across the country,
with regional basic water
services access ranging from
62% to 100%. Around 99% of
the one-fifth wealthiest
households are more likely to
have access to basic water
services; while only 80% of the
poorest quintile do.
Around 6 million Filipinos
also still practice open
defecation, and some 20
million lack access to
basic sanitation facilities.
While over 75 million
Filipinos have basic
sanitation service at the
national level, there are
significant inequalities,
particularly with regional
coverage ranging only
from 22% to 86%.”
(UNICEF Philippines)

1.2 Attention-getter- How will these

Filipinos get access to clean
and sanitated water?
1.3 Involvement-Bridge – The
government alone cannot
handle the problem alone as
they are also allotting huge
about of money on other
departments. In order for
those Filipinos to have
access to clean water, the
government should partner
with different companies and
organizations for funding of
water projects.
1.4 Thesis – With the help of private
companies and
organizations, many
projects are being
proposed to help
 Filipinos in accessing
clean water.
2. Body

2.1 Problem – A number of Filipinos

still don’t have access to clean
water and is affecting their
health. They also do not have
the money to fund their own
access.

2.1.1 “Three in ten health

facilities in the Philippines lack
access to clean toilets,
according to a new report by
the World Health Organization
(WHO) and UNICEF Joint
Monitoring Programme for
Water Supply, Sanitation and
Hygiene (JMP). 23% of the
health care facilities have
unclean toilets while 4% have
no toilets at all. (UNICEF PH,
2017)

2.1.2 “In the Philippines, there

are significant regional
disparities when it comes to
accessing safe drinking water
and sanitation facilities, with the
conflict-affected Autonomous
Region of Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) having the lowest
coverage nationwide.
According to the Joint
Monitoring Programme report,
Progress on Drinking Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017
Update and Sustainable
Development Goal Baselines
(UNICEF/WHO 2017), only
62% of households in ARMM
have access to basic water
services and only 22% of
households have their own
hygienic toilets (compared to,
 respectively, 91% and 75% at
the national level).”
(Chowdhury, 2017)

2.1.3 “Safe drinking water and

proper sanitation facilities are
essential to health and
wellness in the communities.
Safe water and sanitation is
especially linked to young
children’s nutrition and ability to
stay healthy and focused in
school. Diseases caused by
unsafe or unhygienic practices
decrease children’s chances to
successful school completion
and healthy growth.”
(Sylwander, 2017)

2.2 Solution – Various

organizations and companies
could help in providing clean
water to Filipinos through
funding of water-related
projects.

2.2.1 “WaterCredit helps bring

small loans to those who need
access to affordable financing
and expert resources to make
household water and toilet
solutions a reality.” (water.org)

Evaluation #1:
“In 2014, Water.org
expanded WaterCredit to
the Philippines with the
support of the Caterpillar
Foundation and Swiss Re
Foundation. We now work
with 25 different
microfinance institutions,
providing philanthropic and
technical support to build
their capacity to provide a
variety of water and
 sanitation solutions in
urban and rural
communities. From 2015 to
2017, partners conducted
research, trained staff,
designed their loan
products and executed
lending pilots. “ (water.org)

2.2.2 “ A table the Asian

Development Bank has
distributed to visiting journalists
here through e-mail has shown
that up to $710 million worth of
Philippine water-and
sanitation-related projects for
execution in 2017 to 2019 are
up for the bank’s approval.”
(MENA Report, 2017)

Evaluation #2
“ADB provides loans,
grants and technical
assistance to its
developing member
countries, to the private
sector and through public-
private partnerships to
support the building and
maintenance of
infrastructure. The majority
is in water, energy,
transport, urban
development, and
information and
communications
technology. ADB is scaling
up its operations by 50%
from $14 billion in 2014 to
more than $20 billion in
2020, with 70% of this
amount going toward
infrastructure.” (ADB)

2.2.3 “The water system

components provided by the
 US government include the
upgrading of the existing
pumping system at Kiram
Spring; the construction of a
200-cubic meter concrete water
reservoir in Barangay Tagbak
in Indanan; and the installation
of a water supply pipeline
segment to the reservoir
totatling about 1690 meters.”
(Asia News Monitor, 2009)

Evaluation #3
"This new development
provided through USAID
will help in terms of
management and
sustainability," the mayor
said. When consumers
have water, they pay their
[water utility] bills, and
when that happens,
administrative costs will be
met." (Amin, 2009)

2.2.4 “A community-based water-

supply system providing
potable water to over 4,000
people, including displaced
families, was officially
inaugurated today in Barangay
Taluksangay, Zamboanga
City.” (Targeted News Service,
2015)

Evaluation #4
"This new development
provided through USAID
will help in terms of
management and
sustainability," the mayor
said. When consumers
have water, they pay their
[water utility] bills, and
when that happens,
 administrative costs will be
met." (Amin, 2009)

3. Conclusion – Through funding of

clean water projects,
communities have the
opportunity to have access to
clean water, which also plays a
big factor in their livelihood.
Sometimes, the communities
themselves can’t open up or get
their own opportunities because
they need others to help them.
This also enables them to
prevent having diseases.

References

UNICEF PH (2017). More than 180

million people lack basic drinking
water in countries ravaged by
conflict or unrest. Retrieved from
https://www.unicef.org/philippines
/press-releases/more-180-million-
people-lack-basic-drinking-water-
countries-ravaged-conflict-or

Water.org (n.d). Water Credit.

Retrieved from
https://water.org/solutions/waterc
redit/

MENA Report (2017). Philippines:

$770M Philippines water-and
sanitation-related projects up for
ADB’s approval. London.
Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docv
iew/1895919453?accountid=285
47

Asia News Monitor (2009). United

States/Philippines: US-
Philippines partnership project
brings clean running water to Jolo
residents. Bangkok. retrieved
 from
https://search.proquest.com/docv
iew/1239561942?accountid=285
47

Child Fund (n.d) Improving Sanitation

in the Philippines. Retrieved from
https://www.childfund.org/Conten
t/NewsDetail/2147489253/

UNICEF PH (2017). 3 out of 10 health

care facilities in the Philippines
lack access to clean toilets.
Philippines. Retrieved from
https://www.unicef.org/philippines
/press-releases/3-out-10-health-
care-facilities-philippines-lack-
access-clean-toilets

UNICEF PH (2017). Two billion

people lack safe drinking water,
more than twice lack safe
sanitation. Retrieved from
https://www.unicef.org/philippines
/press-releases/two-billion-
people-lack-safe-drinking-water-
more-twice-lack-safe-sanitation

ABS-CBN (2017). 2.1B people lack

access to safe drinking water at
home: report. Retrieved from
https://news.abs-
cbn.com/overseas/07/17/17/21b-
people-lack-access-to-safe-
drinking-water-at-home-report

ADB (n.d) How is ADB supporting

infrastructure? Retrieved from
https://www.adb.org/about/infrast
ructure