6. Water Security in the Context of the Global Climate Emergency

In March 2019, many Metro Manila residents were shocked to find that their water faucets had suddenly run dry. The water supply crisis that hit Metro Manila, the worst it had experienced in a decade, was indicative of “water stress” which is symptomatic of “water insecurity,” a term which describes the condition of people when they have limited access to adequate quantities of potable water. Climate change exacerbates water insecurity manifesting in the form of unpredictable occurrences of heavy rainfall and severe flooding or drought. This chapter discusses how water insecurity in the Philippines now constitutes an emergency situation linked to climate change. Addressing water insecurity ought to be an utmost concern for national leaders and institutions because water is essential to human survival and well-being. This chapter argues that to make Filipinos water secure, policymakers must address the major problem that plagues the country’s water resources sector: poor management. The sector is regulated by several legal frameworks, with each law separately prioritizing some aspect of the sector and assigning responsibilities to an assortment of departments and agencies at various levels of government. The resulting situation is that of conflicting legal provisions, discordant policies, piecemeal accomplishments, and overlapping mandates. To address the problem of poor management, a single, holistic, and integrated framework to regulate all aspects of the water resources sector is needed.