We know that water is a precious resource that is critical to life, to our individual health, our collective agricultural needs, and the needs of our environment for ecosystem services, and all of these are also inextricably linked to human rights, to sanitation, to urbanization, and economic growth, among others.

This is why we have SDG 6 or Sustainable Development Goals 6, the targets achieving the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. As you heard this morning from Undersecretary CP David’s presentation, SDG 6 cannot be realized without other SDGs. SDGs about life on land, a life below water, and our action on climate change as well.

On the other hand, waste also affects almost all aspects of our development goals and targets in the area of food security, health, and sustainable cities. These cannot be reached without proper waste management, and it’s for this reason, waste management is a specific target under SDG-12 which focuses on environmentally-sound management of all waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.

The Philippine government recognizes these and have prioritized water security, ecological integrity of water systems and resilience to water hazards as well as broadening waste minimization initiatives including, mainstreaming the circular economy and stimulating sustainable consumption and production in our Philippine Development Plan 2023 and 2028, and we, in the DENR, cannot achieve our mandate in these areas alone. We need your partnership, and most of all, we need the leadership that we have today in the different Departments, the leading Department of which in our partnership is the Department of the Interior and Local Government. As we know, all LGUs are at the frontline of the challenge of sustainability and resilience, and without these collaboration on what we called initially, the W2 Summit, the Waste and Water Summit, we would not be able to be here today speaking to you.

In addition, the blue and green economy, as focused under this administration, seeks to integrate sustainability in all aspects of our economic activities, promoting the sustainable use of marine resources, renewable energy resources, and waste reduction, and the circular economy among others. By embracing what we’re calling nature-based solutions, and adopting sustainable practices so that the green and blue economy can create quality jobs, drive innovation, sustain our livelihoods, and actually bring down our poverty as well as mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Local governments play a key role in achieving our PDP targets, and our SDGs. A study estimates that 65 of the 169 sub-targets of our 17 SDGs will not be achieved without the engagement of our local and regional governments. Today, we are gathered to tackle two critical issues of national concern, but are really at the frontlines of every LGUs concerned. The essential provision of potable water, and the challenges of waste management.

The crucial role of implementation falls on the shoulders of our LGUs. Water supply and solid waste management are essential services in any LGU as they affect public health, communities’ general well-being, and livelihoods across the board. What we are here to say is that the DENR is here to support you in these endeavors and work closely in implementation and cascading our work down to the local level in order for the national and local goals to actually meet each other. At the same time, the responsibility of ensuring access to clean water really extends to national agencies such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government, ourselves at the DENR, and other agencies such as the DA, even the NEDA for example for strategic planning and funding. In this light, the overarching question that remains, “why is it that 33% of our population does not have access to a formal water supply, and that is the statistics from the Philippine Statistics Agency. And that only 29% of our LGUs are serviced by a sanitary landfill, and that is a COA finding in 2021.

Water supply requires the development of a water source whether it’s a river, spring, or a deep well and access to safe water is essential for the well-being of everyone in the community. It’s not only important for health, but also for the security and prosperity of the nation as a whole in order to ensure that every household has access to this vital resource, we must develop our water sources, protect them, conduct water treatment effectively, distribute efficiently through a network of pipes and collect sufficient fees to sustain its management and its operation. Each component has many issues which we have to contend with. First, our water supply is affected by climate change resulting in wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons. During the wet season, large amounts of rain causes floods and overall poor water quality is also a fact in the dry season. We see low amounts of water not only in cities, but also in our agricultural areas as well. Next, water treatment and distribution can be expensive especially in the far-reaching barangays, and those that are located in the far from the poblacion areas where the water system is located. And finally, there are liability of the water system depends on competent personnel who are able to run it, and enough resources through water rates collection for its maintenance. Water conservation is not implemented, moreso if water is cheap relative to other household expenses such as electricity and mobile connectivity.

The DENR, through the Water Resources Management Office, has undertaken a series of initiatives aimed at establishing sustainable water systems. First, we’ve partnered with NIA, the National Irrigation Administration, to convert a portion of irrigation water into potable water supply. Large-scale projects in Cavite, Tarlac and Iloilo are now scheduled to commence this year. Second, the WRMO is developing opportunities to reduce the expenses associated with maintaining water systems. This includes, the creation of bulk water sources for multiple LGUs to actually share and initiating discussions with the Department of Energy to lower electricity prices for water supply owners. Finally, the DENR is currently reviewing certain policies to achieve universal access to clean water at an appropriate price. Notably, I mentioned appropriate pricing rather than simply affordable price. At present, the affordable price of water for each household is relatively small compared to other expenses such as electricity and mobile phone services.

The issue of solid waste management, if I can move on to this topic, is similar to water supply as it requires an efficient water system for the collection, segregation, and disposal of solid waste. Last year, the DENR released the implementing rules and regulations for the Extended Producers Responsibility Law. This law mandates private companies to collect a certain percentage of plastic waste generated from their consumer products, showcasing a big step towards manufacturers and also lessening the burden from the LGUs in the collection and processing of these types of wastes.

As you heard this morning in the presentation of Usec Mitch Cuna, we, in the Philippines, produce about 61,000 metric tons of waste daily, and 12% to 24% of the waste are actually plastics. We also use daily 163 million plastic sachet packets, 48 million shopping bags, and 45 million thin-film bags, so this amounts to a tremendous amount of waste on an annual basis. However, we must know imperative to encourage now our proactive consumer sector to be more conscious of the plastic waste that we generate, and here, I have to say what I’ve always said in this discussion, until we find an affordable and equally functional material to single-use plastic, we will not be able to eradicate its use. This also has a social impact on those that need this material in fact to actually service their daily needs. So we called on, and we have repeatedly called on the private sector and academe, as well as industry, research should be put into the substitution of single-use plastic, and this will not be able to be resolved by the government alone.

This year, we will assist in identifying suitable landfill sites for multiple LGUs to use. Additionally, a nationwide campaign for recycling and other waste reduction measures will be launched. Finally, we are in direct contact with our national partners as well as local partners in academe and the scientific community to explore the latest in waste and water technologies locally, as well as internationally in order for us to somehow develop this capacity within the country directly.

The LGUs, and national agencies may have different perspectives when it comes to the issue of water and waste management. LGUs may believe that national agencies are not providing enough funding for planning and infrastructure, or national agencies may view LGUs’ lack of necessary action to sustain the current infrastructure. We are here to disprove these beliefs. This is why we’re working very closely as partners with the DILG.

Let me just say before I close, that the presentations you saw this morning specifically of the one of Usec Dr. CP David was made possible by the creation of two different offices in the DENR under this administration. The first is the Geospatial Database Office which continues to map the natural resources of the country, including water. So as Usec CP has showed you, that database on the sources of water, particularly surface water, has been in development since his years in the DOST. What we have managed to do under this administration is now look at governance, look at where the LUAs are, look at where the different LGUs may be able to source the different water sources on the ground.

Secondly, we also created a position an Undersecretary for Integrated Environmental Science. This is to bring science back into decision-making by providing evidence needed at the scale needed by the different decision makers at the local and national level. And finally, I’d also like to cite the adoption of a climate-risk and systems-lens to our environmental decisions.

We’ve just finished presenting a climate action plan which involved adaptation, and out nationally-determined contributions implementation plan on mitigation to the President and other Cabinet colleagues. We hope for your cooperation when we do downstream, what we have discussed at the national level in terms of your annual investment plans, and your executive and legislative agendas at the local level.

Today, let us breach the gap and try to resolve all of these issues. We know that this will not be the last conversation that we will have, but we all are together in striving for a better future by overcoming challenges together instead of separately. By working together, we can achieve great things. Let’s forge a strong partnership with LGUs and national agencies and truly have high expectations especially with our level of cooperation and collaboration with the Department of the Interior and Local Government under its leadership.

With dedication and collaboration, we can build thriving LGUs with improved public services and create a better quality of life for all. Under this administration, we wish to be known as Mga Pilipino na Bumubuo sa Isang Bayang Makakalikasan or PBBM.

Muli, isa pong makakalikasang umaga sa ating lahat.