Many Pinoys have no access to water, electricity–DENR

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje on Sunday underscored the need to conserve water and electricity, both being precious economic resources, which remain inaccessible to millions of Filipinos.

Citing statistics, Paje said 17 million people in the Philippines still have no access to water and 15 million people still have no access to electricity.

Hence, Paje said the Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR) will embark on a set of weeklong activities that will bring together the country’s water and power sectors to raise public awareness on the close link between water and energy consumption.

This was Paje’s message ahead of celebrations of World Water Day on March 22.

Paje said this year’s celebration, which has a local theme of “Water is Power,” will focus on the growing awareness that saving water may be one of the most effective ways to save energy—and vice versa.

Paje noted that producing energy requires use of water while providing freshwater uses energy. He said both processes face growing limits and problems.

The DENR chief said “much of the country’s generated power relies on water, while many Filipinos rely on electrical power for domestic water supply.”

Paje said that aside from providing Filipinos access to clean water and electricity, “the efficient use of both water and power is also an urgent issue the government is trying to address.”

He announced that the DENR would host lecture series in selected schools in Pateros and the cities of Quezon, Marikina, Pasig, San Juan and Taguig from March 18 to 20.

The celebration of March 22 as “World Day for Water” was declared in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly. This year’s international theme is “Water and Energy.” –Jonathan L. Mayuga, Businessmirror