Water Conservation, Mgt! Mindanao Leaders, Samar Gov Graduate From MASHAV Course

Tonight, I and several Mindanao Governors, Mayors and decision makers, including the Governor of Northern Samar, graduated from a 5-Session Online Course on Water Conservation and Management conducted by the MASHAV of Israel.

This was one of the engagements with the Israeli government which I initiated when I was Chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) which was aimed at increasing the awareness of our local leaders on the importance of water conservation and management.

Tonight, the graduates of the course have joined the exclusive Shalom Club, according to Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss.

Some of the graduates would be invited to Israel early next year to see for themselves the modern technology and infrastructure it has established to recycle waste water for agricultural uses, its efficient irrigation system and the dams and water catchments.

This program is one of the major advocacies I carried as Chairman of MinDA realizing the importance of water conservation and management for Mindanao agriculture.

I have always lamented the fact that while the Philippines has thousands of rivers and creeks and dozens of lakes, including a heavy rainfall of up to 4,000-mm per year, the lack of water for drinking and agriculture had always been a problem in our governance.

In contrast, Israel which has a rainfall of only 360-mm per year and at least 4 major rivers had provided its people with sufficient water for drinking and irrigation.

The importance of the course on Water Conservation and Management is starkly emphasized by the flooding that Northern Luzon is experiencing now in the aftermath of Typhoon Maring.

The absence of trees in the mountains and lack of small water catchments and dams to mitigate the effects of the heavy downpour are seen as the major causes of the flashfloods.

I believe that our government should give this problem a serious focus or else we will suffer from worse floodings in the future during the rainy and typhoon season and destruction of crops during droughts.

A legislation which would launch a National Water Management and Conservation Program which would involve the re-greening of the bald mountains especially in Luzon and the construction of dams and water catchments and provide sufficient funds for the program must be enacted right away.

#PrepareForTheUnexpected!

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!