Bridges, Tunnels, and Dams

[jbkayaker12]

Informal settlers in La Mesa watershed has already done severe damage to this fragile watershed by way of its slash and burn farming. Denuded parts of the only rainforest in Metro Manila is being rehabilitated by concerned citizens and now they are going to bring in people to live permanently that will only degrade the watershed even more. I hope they have an environmental study on the effects of all these families moving in on the watershed and the consequences it might bring to this fragile ecosystem.

I hope it's not true that Gina Lopez, the head of Bantay Kalikasan which is spearheading the rehabilitation of the watershed, turning a blind eye on the housing developments for the executives of MWSS. The only rainforest in Metro Manila should remain as that a rainforest and not a subdivision.

Authorities better think clearly about the concerns which will affect the majority of the people in Metro Manila and not just the few employees of MWSS.

[jbkayaker12]

Informal settlers in La Mesa watershed has already done severe damage to this fragile watershed by way of its slash and burn farming. Denuded parts of the only rainforest in Metro Manila is being rehabilitated by concerned citizens and now they are going to bring in people to live permanently that will only degrade the watershed even more. I hope they have an environmental study on the effects of all these families moving in on the watershed and the consequences it might bring to this fragile ecosystem.

I hope it's not true that Gina Lopez, the head of Bantay Kalikasan which is spearheading the rehabilitation of the watershed, turning a blind eye on the housing developments for the executives of MWSS. The only rainforest in Metro Manila should remain as that a rainforest and not a subdivision.

Authorities better think clearly about the concerns which will affect the majority of the people in Metro Manila and not just the few employees of MWSS.

[dancethingy]

Amen to this thread, bump, can we galvanize ourselves and get encourage our senators on giving protected status to la mesa dam???????

[dancethingy]

Amen to this thread, bump, can we galvanize ourselves and get encourage our senators on giving protected status to la mesa dam???????

[dancethingy]

Amen to this thread, bump, can we galvanize ourselves and get encourage our senators on giving protected status to la mesa dam???????

[amras]

some of our fellow forumers here already did a similar action about our heritage sites, but still nothing has happened. it's just that I dont want our efforts to be worthless in the end.

[amras]

some of our fellow forumers here already did a similar action about our heritage sites, but still nothing has happened. it's just that I dont want our efforts to be worthless in the end.

[amras]

some of our fellow forumers here already did a similar action about our heritage sites, but still nothing has happened. it's just that I dont want our efforts to be worthless in the end.

[Animo]

Atleast this thread will help provide awareness. I think we do have some government officials lurking in the Philippine forum. I'll try to write something but as always no one replies.

[Animo]

Atleast this thread will help provide awareness. I think we do have some government officials lurking in the Philippine forum. I'll try to write something but as always no one replies.

[Animo]

Atleast this thread will help provide awareness. I think we do have some government officials lurking in the Philippine forum. I'll try to write something but as always no one replies.

[JustHorace]

One of the houses built is ours. But we never lived in it even just for a night.

[JustHorace]

One of the houses built is ours. But we never lived in it even just for a night.

[JustHorace]

One of the houses built is ours. But we never lived in it even just for a night.

[Lili]

Hey, I just read this thread. Really this is an issue of vital concern in terms of protecting not only the environment but Manila's water source.

Government should at once exercise its police power and eminent domain to expropriate this land. I am surprised that legal titles were given for the construction of houses there and to MWSS employees at that. This is just NOT right. It should not have been made part of a collective bargaining agreement. It makes you wonder that if the CBA was executed as far back as 1968, why were the constructions and titles being given only now? Surely, since then, they recognized that the nature of these lands is critical and is not proper to award residential titles. Something is amiss.

And people thought all along that La Mesa Dam was protected by Watershed rights. The Legislature or even the President should at once issue an Executive Order or Presidential Decree declaring it as a protected area. As Mr. Fernandez said, "It does not need a Senate fact-finding committee to eventually come to this conclusion. All it needs is political will, just one stroke of the pen which will ensure the purity of the drinking water of 12 million people and the preservation of the forest and wildlife in the area.”

[Lili]

Hey, I just read this thread. Really this is an issue of vital concern in terms of protecting not only the environment but Manila's water source.

Government should at once exercise its police power and eminent domain to expropriate this land. I am surprised that legal titles were given for the construction of houses there and to MWSS employees at that. This is just NOT right. It should not have been made part of a collective bargaining agreement. It makes you wonder that if the CBA was executed as far back as 1968, why were the constructions and titles being given only now? Surely, since then, they recognized that the nature of these lands is critical and is not proper to award residential titles. Something is amiss.

And people thought all along that La Mesa Dam was protected by Watershed rights. The Legislature or even the President should at once issue an Executive Order or Presidential Decree declaring it as a protected area. As Mr. Fernandez said, "It does not need a Senate fact-finding committee to eventually come to this conclusion. All it needs is political will, just one stroke of the pen which will ensure the purity of the drinking water of 12 million people and the preservation of the forest and wildlife in the area.”

[Lili]

Hey, I just read this thread. Really this is an issue of vital concern in terms of protecting not only the environment but Manila's water source.

Government should at once exercise its police power and eminent domain to expropriate this land. I am surprised that legal titles were given for the construction of houses there and to MWSS employees at that. This is just NOT right. It should not have been made part of a collective bargaining agreement. It makes you wonder that if the CBA was executed as far back as 1968, why were the constructions and titles being given only now? Surely, since then, they recognized that the nature of these lands is critical and is not proper to award residential titles. Something is amiss.

And people thought all along that La Mesa Dam was protected by Watershed rights. The Legislature or even the President should at once issue an Executive Order or Presidential Decree declaring it as a protected area. As Mr. Fernandez said, "It does not need a Senate fact-finding committee to eventually come to this conclusion. All it needs is political will, just one stroke of the pen which will ensure the purity of the drinking water of 12 million people and the preservation of the forest and wildlife in the area.”

[overtureph]

As I See It : Why the bureaucratic runaround on water?

First posted 01:02am (Mla time) June 07, 2006
By Neal H. Cruz
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A14 of the June 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

I DON’T understand it. This charade has been going on for 13 years now. I am reminded of it again because of the lack of water in many areas in Metro Manila and environs. Plus there is the current controversy over a proposed housing project, being pushed by shadowy characters under mysterious circumstances inside the La Mesa watershed, which will pollute the water in the reservoir.

Here are the facts:

• La Mesa Dam is the principal source of water for 12 million residents of the metropolis. Aside from the water generated by its own watershed, additional water is piped in from the Angat and Ipo dams in Bulacan province. In addition, many subdivisions, factories, commercial establishments, as well as individual homes, source their water from deep wells. So much fresh water is being sucked out that the underground aquifers are running dry and salt water is taking its place in the aquifers. Result: Water being pumped out of the wells is salty.

• Because of this, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) has prohibited the use of deep wells and the drilling of more. “If water continues to be sucked out,” said NWRB Executive Director Ramon Alikpala, “the ground above the aquifers will subside, making them more susceptible to floods.” But he quickly added that he could stop residents and establishments in three cities (Las Piñas, Parañaque and Muntinlupa) from using deep wells “because of a lack of an alternative water source in these areas.” He proposed that deep wells be banned in the rest of Metro Manila.

• While many areas are engulfed by gigantic floods after the slightest thunderstorm, drinking water is scarce. We see evidence of that daily on TV as residents in poorer areas line up for water with all sorts of containers.

• Every summer, there is a shortage of water -- not only for drinking and washing but also for agriculture. When a major pipeline from Angat is blocked or damaged, much of Metro Manila goes thirsty for days while the damage is repaired.

• While the two water concessionaires are busy laying down new pipes, little or no water comes out of these pipes. There just isn’t enough water to supply the needs of the population.

The government is dreaming of harnessing the Laiban Dam near Quezon province, but that is decades away. The government keeps talking about pumping up water from Laguna and Taal lakes, but those are also still dreams.

• Yet there is a ready source of fresh water in a reservoir nearby. All you have to do is connect a new pipe from the reservoir to the La Mesa reservoir a few kilometers downstream and you have millions of gallons of additional water daily. Every day millions of gallons of water just flow over the dam to the Marikina and Pasig rivers, and out to sea.

This is the mystery that I don’t understand. We have a perennial shortage of water, there is a ready source of water to relieve the shortage, but the government agencies in charge of water do not want to tap it. This is the Wawa Dam in Montalban town (now renamed Rodriguez), which used to be the main source of water of Manila.

Here’s an even deeper mystery: A Filipino company that has helped put up a big dam in the Cordilleras is offering to tap Wawa Dam -- for free! There is no legal obstacle to the proposal, but the NWRB is using the longest red tape in the world to delay the project. This has been going on for the last 13 years. Why?

Another mystery: Recently, Manila Water Co. Inc. proudly announced that it would supply water to Antipolo City and neighboring towns. Where will the water come from? From La Mesa! Water from La Mesa would be pumped up, at considerable expense, to Antipolo, etc.

“Why not from Wawa Dam?” I asked. “It’s already there.”

No answer. Ponder this: Water will be pumped from La Mesa, which is already short of water supply, to several communities that already have a reservoir full of water that flows uselessly out to sea every day. Where is the logic there?

It appears that I am not the only one perplexed by the mysteries. I received a letter from the proponent of tapping the Wawa Dam, Oscar Violago, owner of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders & Developers Group, who has also read the NWRB statements. He is wondering why the NWRB has given it the runaround. I have posed the same question to Alikpala a couple of times, and I couldn’t get a satisfactory answer.

“It is unfortunate that the NWRB, after all these years, is now admitting that it has not done anything to ensure that the water supply of Metro Manila would be sufficient and that it now says it has no alternative water source in sight,” Violago said in his letter. “This leads us to ask again why, after 13 years of bureaucratic runaround (we applied for our water permit in 1993), the NWRB has yet to approve our company’s water permit to extract, supply and deliver the water from Wawa Dam to Metro Manila. We are willing and able to supply upwards of 1.5 million cubic meters of potable water per day, which is more than enough to solve once and for all the perennial water crisis.”

“…We cannot understand NWRB’s frame of mind,” Violago continued. “We have repeatedly stated that our project would be at no cost to the government and that all risks would be to our account… We wonder how many more years Metro Manila will have to endure this lack of water when by a single stroke of the pen, Director Alikpala and the NWRB can make the water shortage a thing of the past.”





Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.p...d=78319&col=56

[overtureph]

As I See It : Why the bureaucratic runaround on water?

First posted 01:02am (Mla time) June 07, 2006
By Neal H. Cruz
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A14 of the June 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

I DON’T understand it. This charade has been going on for 13 years now. I am reminded of it again because of the lack of water in many areas in Metro Manila and environs. Plus there is the current controversy over a proposed housing project, being pushed by shadowy characters under mysterious circumstances inside the La Mesa watershed, which will pollute the water in the reservoir.

Here are the facts:

• La Mesa Dam is the principal source of water for 12 million residents of the metropolis. Aside from the water generated by its own watershed, additional water is piped in from the Angat and Ipo dams in Bulacan province. In addition, many subdivisions, factories, commercial establishments, as well as individual homes, source their water from deep wells. So much fresh water is being sucked out that the underground aquifers are running dry and salt water is taking its place in the aquifers. Result: Water being pumped out of the wells is salty.

• Because of this, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) has prohibited the use of deep wells and the drilling of more. “If water continues to be sucked out,” said NWRB Executive Director Ramon Alikpala, “the ground above the aquifers will subside, making them more susceptible to floods.” But he quickly added that he could stop residents and establishments in three cities (Las Piñas, Parañaque and Muntinlupa) from using deep wells “because of a lack of an alternative water source in these areas.” He proposed that deep wells be banned in the rest of Metro Manila.

• While many areas are engulfed by gigantic floods after the slightest thunderstorm, drinking water is scarce. We see evidence of that daily on TV as residents in poorer areas line up for water with all sorts of containers.

• Every summer, there is a shortage of water -- not only for drinking and washing but also for agriculture. When a major pipeline from Angat is blocked or damaged, much of Metro Manila goes thirsty for days while the damage is repaired.

• While the two water concessionaires are busy laying down new pipes, little or no water comes out of these pipes. There just isn’t enough water to supply the needs of the population.

The government is dreaming of harnessing the Laiban Dam near Quezon province, but that is decades away. The government keeps talking about pumping up water from Laguna and Taal lakes, but those are also still dreams.

• Yet there is a ready source of fresh water in a reservoir nearby. All you have to do is connect a new pipe from the reservoir to the La Mesa reservoir a few kilometers downstream and you have millions of gallons of additional water daily. Every day millions of gallons of water just flow over the dam to the Marikina and Pasig rivers, and out to sea.

This is the mystery that I don’t understand. We have a perennial shortage of water, there is a ready source of water to relieve the shortage, but the government agencies in charge of water do not want to tap it. This is the Wawa Dam in Montalban town (now renamed Rodriguez), which used to be the main source of water of Manila.

Here’s an even deeper mystery: A Filipino company that has helped put up a big dam in the Cordilleras is offering to tap Wawa Dam -- for free! There is no legal obstacle to the proposal, but the NWRB is using the longest red tape in the world to delay the project. This has been going on for the last 13 years. Why?

Another mystery: Recently, Manila Water Co. Inc. proudly announced that it would supply water to Antipolo City and neighboring towns. Where will the water come from? From La Mesa! Water from La Mesa would be pumped up, at considerable expense, to Antipolo, etc.

“Why not from Wawa Dam?” I asked. “It’s already there.”

No answer. Ponder this: Water will be pumped from La Mesa, which is already short of water supply, to several communities that already have a reservoir full of water that flows uselessly out to sea every day. Where is the logic there?

It appears that I am not the only one perplexed by the mysteries. I received a letter from the proponent of tapping the Wawa Dam, Oscar Violago, owner of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders & Developers Group, who has also read the NWRB statements. He is wondering why the NWRB has given it the runaround. I have posed the same question to Alikpala a couple of times, and I couldn’t get a satisfactory answer.

“It is unfortunate that the NWRB, after all these years, is now admitting that it has not done anything to ensure that the water supply of Metro Manila would be sufficient and that it now says it has no alternative water source in sight,” Violago said in his letter. “This leads us to ask again why, after 13 years of bureaucratic runaround (we applied for our water permit in 1993), the NWRB has yet to approve our company’s water permit to extract, supply and deliver the water from Wawa Dam to Metro Manila. We are willing and able to supply upwards of 1.5 million cubic meters of potable water per day, which is more than enough to solve once and for all the perennial water crisis.”

“…We cannot understand NWRB’s frame of mind,” Violago continued. “We have repeatedly stated that our project would be at no cost to the government and that all risks would be to our account… We wonder how many more years Metro Manila will have to endure this lack of water when by a single stroke of the pen, Director Alikpala and the NWRB can make the water shortage a thing of the past.”





Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.p...d=78319&col=56

[overtureph]

As I See It : Why the bureaucratic runaround on water?

First posted 01:02am (Mla time) June 07, 2006
By Neal H. Cruz
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A14 of the June 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

I DON’T understand it. This charade has been going on for 13 years now. I am reminded of it again because of the lack of water in many areas in Metro Manila and environs. Plus there is the current controversy over a proposed housing project, being pushed by shadowy characters under mysterious circumstances inside the La Mesa watershed, which will pollute the water in the reservoir.

Here are the facts:

• La Mesa Dam is the principal source of water for 12 million residents of the metropolis. Aside from the water generated by its own watershed, additional water is piped in from the Angat and Ipo dams in Bulacan province. In addition, many subdivisions, factories, commercial establishments, as well as individual homes, source their water from deep wells. So much fresh water is being sucked out that the underground aquifers are running dry and salt water is taking its place in the aquifers. Result: Water being pumped out of the wells is salty.

• Because of this, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) has prohibited the use of deep wells and the drilling of more. “If water continues to be sucked out,” said NWRB Executive Director Ramon Alikpala, “the ground above the aquifers will subside, making them more susceptible to floods.” But he quickly added that he could stop residents and establishments in three cities (Las Piñas, Parañaque and Muntinlupa) from using deep wells “because of a lack of an alternative water source in these areas.” He proposed that deep wells be banned in the rest of Metro Manila.

• While many areas are engulfed by gigantic floods after the slightest thunderstorm, drinking water is scarce. We see evidence of that daily on TV as residents in poorer areas line up for water with all sorts of containers.

• Every summer, there is a shortage of water -- not only for drinking and washing but also for agriculture. When a major pipeline from Angat is blocked or damaged, much of Metro Manila goes thirsty for days while the damage is repaired.

• While the two water concessionaires are busy laying down new pipes, little or no water comes out of these pipes. There just isn’t enough water to supply the needs of the population.

The government is dreaming of harnessing the Laiban Dam near Quezon province, but that is decades away. The government keeps talking about pumping up water from Laguna and Taal lakes, but those are also still dreams.

• Yet there is a ready source of fresh water in a reservoir nearby. All you have to do is connect a new pipe from the reservoir to the La Mesa reservoir a few kilometers downstream and you have millions of gallons of additional water daily. Every day millions of gallons of water just flow over the dam to the Marikina and Pasig rivers, and out to sea.

This is the mystery that I don’t understand. We have a perennial shortage of water, there is a ready source of water to relieve the shortage, but the government agencies in charge of water do not want to tap it. This is the Wawa Dam in Montalban town (now renamed Rodriguez), which used to be the main source of water of Manila.

Here’s an even deeper mystery: A Filipino company that has helped put up a big dam in the Cordilleras is offering to tap Wawa Dam -- for free! There is no legal obstacle to the proposal, but the NWRB is using the longest red tape in the world to delay the project. This has been going on for the last 13 years. Why?

Another mystery: Recently, Manila Water Co. Inc. proudly announced that it would supply water to Antipolo City and neighboring towns. Where will the water come from? From La Mesa! Water from La Mesa would be pumped up, at considerable expense, to Antipolo, etc.

“Why not from Wawa Dam?” I asked. “It’s already there.”

No answer. Ponder this: Water will be pumped from La Mesa, which is already short of water supply, to several communities that already have a reservoir full of water that flows uselessly out to sea every day. Where is the logic there?

It appears that I am not the only one perplexed by the mysteries. I received a letter from the proponent of tapping the Wawa Dam, Oscar Violago, owner of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders & Developers Group, who has also read the NWRB statements. He is wondering why the NWRB has given it the runaround. I have posed the same question to Alikpala a couple of times, and I couldn’t get a satisfactory answer.

“It is unfortunate that the NWRB, after all these years, is now admitting that it has not done anything to ensure that the water supply of Metro Manila would be sufficient and that it now says it has no alternative water source in sight,” Violago said in his letter. “This leads us to ask again why, after 13 years of bureaucratic runaround (we applied for our water permit in 1993), the NWRB has yet to approve our company’s water permit to extract, supply and deliver the water from Wawa Dam to Metro Manila. We are willing and able to supply upwards of 1.5 million cubic meters of potable water per day, which is more than enough to solve once and for all the perennial water crisis.”

“…We cannot understand NWRB’s frame of mind,” Violago continued. “We have repeatedly stated that our project would be at no cost to the government and that all risks would be to our account… We wonder how many more years Metro Manila will have to endure this lack of water when by a single stroke of the pen, Director Alikpala and the NWRB can make the water shortage a thing of the past.”





Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.p...d=78319&col=56