Taking the lead in this event were the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Maynilad and other institutions engaged in water resources management and development including the Philippine Water Partnership (PWP).
1. Water Philippines 2013 Conference and Exposition
The Philippine Water Works Association (PWWA), the umbrella organization of the country’s water supply industry hosted this event with theme: “Sustainability of Water Resources and Environmental Solutions to Climate Change”. Held at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City on March 20-22, 2013, the activity brought together government regulatory officers, water and sewerage utility professionals, technology manufacturers, industrialists, consultants, engineers and industry experts to discuss emerging issues and concerns of the industry.
Engr. Rodora N. Gamboa, PWP Chair-Elect and Head, Maynilad Water Academy acted as Moderator during the Presentation of Declaration of Leaders’ Forum.
Also, during the said event, PWP members representing the small water service providers (SWSPs) had the opportunity to visit the trade exhibition which featured state of the art technologies, equipment and gadgets for promoting efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of water service provision.
2. Philippines Walks for Water
As part of the WWD Celebration, the Philippines Walk for Water was also held in the afternoon of March 22, 2013 at the SM Mall of Asia grounds. This multi-sectoral collaboration spearheaded by Maynilad, with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as lead government agency involved walking along the Manila Bay in the hope of highlighting the importance of water and in order to get support from ordinary citizens in conserving water as a precious resource.
Furthermore, Engr. Gamboa delivered a short message on PWP’s support in achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG). Later, she also represented PWP in the Commitment Wall signing and hand-printing. PWP representatives also joined in the Water Warrior Oath.
3. The Water Snake Formation
PWP delegation joined in the Water Snake Formation which was highlighted by the passing of bucket of water filling a giant Earth model as container dramatizing water cooperation.
4. Service Delivery Assessment (SDA) Dialogue and Workshop was held on March 20-22, 2013 at the Summit Ridge, Tagaytay City
SDA is a joint initiative of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the World Bank and UNICEF designed to assist the Philippines in consolidating information on water supply and sanitation status based on benchmarking of sub-sector service delivery pathways, past spending, and future needs versus commitments, presented in an appealing visual way to target decision-makers.
The SDA aims to assist the country in understanding how finance is – or is not - turned into outcomes, identify bottlenecks along the service delivery pathway and to develop concrete actions to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Mr. Christopher Ilagan and Ms. Elsa Mejia, PWP Board of Trustees and other PWP members actively participated in the Dialogue and Workshop facilitated by PWP Chair, Ms. Rosario Aurora L. Villaluna.
Tubig Para sa Lahat, Lahat Para sa Tubig
World Water Day is a major event celebrated and observed by the Philippine water sector.
This year’s WWD theme:“International Year of Water Cooperation” was translated into local slogan of “Tubig Para sa Lahat, Lahat Para sa Tubig” (“Water for all, all for Water”) and served as the core message for the celebration participated by multi-stakeholders coming from the government sector, private sector and non-government organizations (NGOs).