The National Water Regulatory Board and Issues on Enforcement

In order to progress with the current water pollution problems of the country, the government itself must make initiatives regarding the issue. As response to this alarming problem, the government created the National Water Regulatory Board or the NWRB. And like any other government agency, the NWRB, who’s responsible of the water resource management in Philippines, is divided into several branches which specialize in different tasks. This division was made to ensure that each task will be done more efficiently by being closely monitored.

The following are the eight main agencies responsible for the water resource management:

•Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for flood control and drainage (this responsibility has recently been transferred to the Metro Manila Development Authority) 

•Department of Health (DOH) for sanitation 

•Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for watershed protection and water quality 

• Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for LGU-managed water supply, and sewerage and sanitation systems and capability building 

• NationalPower Corporation (NPC) for hydropower development 

• NationalIrrigation Administration (NIA) and Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) for irrigation development 

• Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for water supply, sewerage, and sanitation in Metro Manila and, partially, in its neighbouring provinces; and 

• LocalWater Utilities Administration (LWUA) for the Water Districts which manage water supply and sewerage systems. 

As stated above, these agencies or offices specialize in a specific task which should ultimately result to better conditions in the Philippines. However, this actually isn’t the case. Instead of functioning better as a system, the division made the operations even more complicated.

According to Dr. Alma Madrazo, an environmental expert, “the existing regulatory set-up in the Philippines is quite complicated and poses problems on conflicts of interests and possible overlapping of responsibilities that hinders effective water resources management”. This proves that the current running system of the government is ineffective and thus, should probably need some amendments.

Also, one probable reason for the failure of this system is that when regulations are then passed to the local governments, their interpretations vary and thus creating more conflicts.

If the Philippine government really want to solve or even just ameliorate the water conditions of our country, they should probably look into their policies again and make some revisions in order to settle the conflicts that inhibit developments.

- Steven Joseph Torres

Sources:

http://pcij.org/blog/wp-docs/state_of_water.pdf, pages 39 - 42