City Addresses Clean Water Problem

ILOILO CITY – A total of 35 city barangays along the riverbanks and seaside from the
municipality of Oton in southern Iloilo up to Leganes in northern Iloilo and passing Iloilo City
will be placed under close observation in relation to its clean water condition.

This was announced by city environment and natural resources officer, Engr. Noel Hechanova as
the Metro Iloilo Guimaras Development Council’s (MIGEDC) initiative to its commitment in the
Local Initiatives for Affordable Wastewater Treatment (LINAW) project funded by the United
States Agency International Development (USAID).

Hechanova disclosed that city mayor Jerry P. Treñas is pushing for the LINAW project at the
MIGEDC areas composed of Iloilo City, the municipalities of Oton, Leganes, San Miguel, Pavia
and Sta Barbara in Iloilo and the island province of Guimaras.

Treñas is the chairman of MIGEDC.

The project aims to rehabilitate and restore the life of the Iloilo River and the coastal areas here
and assures health and sanitation of the populace living along the waterways.

A 2006 survey showed that in 35 barangays in Iloilo City alone, 83,830 persons are living in
these areas with minimum decent toilets and sanitation. The report also showed that the Iloilo
River is highly polluted with low dissolved oxygen for a period of years since 2004 and is not
anymore capable of holding life of fishes and other living organisms.

This is the main reason for several fishkills in the river which is also unfit for human swimming,
Hechanova said.

A national study showed that nearly two-thirds of the river systems nationwide are already
polluted and that 25 Filipinos die everyday due to water borne diseases. Also, 58 percent of wells
for daily household uses are tested positive for coliform content.

Similarly, the coastal area of Arevalo district here with 8 coastal barangays and with a population
of more than 40,000 from Sto Niño Norte to Sagrado area, is also suffering from high coliform
content.

Hechanova said that intestinal parasitism below five years old is highly noted in these areas that
need urgent medical attention and environmental solutions.

The ENRO officer said that the city is only in a near term solution by combating septic overflow
that pollutes the underground aquifers. The city government, in collaboration with international
organizations concerned with clean and sanitary water, is currently undergoing possible solutions
to the water problem and its accompanying problems.