Cebu Water Summit Set on May 12

(PNA) — Some 300 participants from different sectors in Cebu will gather on May 12 for a Water Summit Forum to address possible water problems amid the mild El Niño phenomenon experienced across the country.

Lawyer Czareem Joseph Estella, head of Cebu Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro), said Secretary Nerios Acosta, the Presidential Adviser on Environmental Protection, will attend the summit.

Estella said among those who will participate in the forum are grassroots sectors such as the fisherfolk and farmers.

Estella said they also invited water providers in Cebu, including the local irrigation bodies, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 and other agencies and non-government organizations.

Estella also said based on the reports from the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, the entire Cebu island is affected by dry spell.

Among those affected are agriculture and fish production in the province, Estella said.

But Estella said the reports are still subject for validation from the source government agencies.

Estella said personnel from the Penro are now tracing and locating the places affected with the dry spell.

He said among the areas experiencing the dry spell is Barangay Jaclupan in Talisay City, which hosts a weir for the Metropolitan Cebu Water District. (PNA) LGI/EB/NOD