DAILY TESTING OF WATER SAFETY

I have already written about water safety for many times, but I will not stop doing it, and I will keep doing it, because water security is very important to us. Water security is part of food security, and water security is also part of health security. At a higher level, it is actually part of national security. In a previous essay, I wrote about the existing practice of bi-annual or annual testing of water safety. In that essay, I argued that water testing should be done weekly, and if possible, daily. Who should be doing the regular inspections? I know that the water concessionaires are doing it, and the DOH is also doing it. But in addition to that, I think that the LGUs should also do it. Some could argue that the LGUs could probably not afford to buy the equipment to do it, but what is the price of human life and public safety? If the LGUs could not afford to buy this equipment on their own, they should just provide incentives to the private companies within their jurisdictions. That way, these companies could become their service providers. Assuming that the LGUs could not decide on their own whether to buy this equipment or not, then the civil society should already enter the picture in order to convince their elected officials to do so. After all, there are provisions in the law for representatives of the civil society to attend council meetings. If that does not work, then the civil society could initiate a signature campaign for a people’s initiative. Yes, a people’s initiative can be done at the LGU level! IKE SENERES/2-19-24