One of the greatest ironies in the Philippines is the fact that we suffer from floods during the rainy and typhoon season but after a few weeks of dry spell our plants wilt for lack of water.
This is a problem which has bedeviled Phjilippine Agriculture and affected food production causing hunger and economic difficulties especially during long dry spells or El Niño.
What is totally mind-boggling is the fact that until today, even when the occurrence of El Niño has become more frequent and devastating, nothing much has been done to address the problem.
The solution is actually very simple: Implement a National Water Management and Conservation Program which would catch run-off water during the rainy season to be used during the dry season.
What are the components of the proposed Natonal Water Management and Conservation Program?
1. Protection of the watersheds and headwaters which could be done through the strict implementation of laws preventing the encroachment into critical watersheds and massive education campaign. The Igorots of the Cordillera have been doing this for generations and it is part of their culture;
2. Construction of levees and small dikes along manageable rivers to raise the river water level which would effectively result in a higher water level in the areas near the river;
3. Construction of small dams and water impounding dikes in gulleys, creeks and streams to catch run-off water during the rainy season. I did this when I was Mayor of my hometown, M’lang, North Cotabato as early as 1995 and the Small Water Impounding Projects are still working until today;
4. Encourage people, especially those in the rural areas, to establish water catchments, including water tanks which could be the source of water for their backyard farms and animals;
5. Implement the Solar-Powered irrigation System, Ram-Pumps and Wind-driven water pumping projects to provide irrigation water for the country’s agricultural lands. Of the three, I prefer Solar Powered Irrigation System because it works more efficiently during the hot and dry summer months.
It would be the height of presumptuousness if I make a claim that these suggestions are my original ideas because they are not.
Every seasoned government planner knows these solutions but the problem is this has been taken for granted.
The best example of this attitude is the delay in the implementation of the Israeli-funded SPIS Program which targets to irrigate 500,000-hectares through a P44-B low interest loan.
Negotiations were started over two years ago and everything is in place including the target areas which were already identified when I was Agriculture Secretary.
The Israelis have already built two proto-types in Lumban, Laguna but after these were turned over the the farmers in the area who are now using them, nothing has been heard about the SPIS.
Now, I have this gut feeling, God forbid, that the country is due for another long dry spell because the occurrence has lately been recorded every three years.
With our lackadaisical attitude, I do not believe the country would be able to prepare for the next El Niño and that could be disastrous.
#FarmersGutFeel!
#FoodGrowsWhereWaterFlows!
(I took this video today in Sta. Filomena, Makilala where a dike was built before an over bridge in the Malasila River, effectively holding water and raising the level. It has been turned into a picnic area for local people and a good model of how dikes and levees in the rivers of the country could make water available for the people.)
https://fb.watch/asy4DrgiUS/
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