The Province of Guimaras and the University of the Philippines in the Visayas professed partnership to conduct a water project in the island.
40 participants from the different municipalities of Guimaras attended a water forum on October 18, 2018 at the GTIC Function Hall, San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras as part of the research project entitled: “Where Water Flows: Characterizing Domestic Water and the Institutional Arrangements for Provisioning and Access in Two Visayas Island-Settings”.
Governor Samuel T. Gumarin said that Guimarasnons should pursue the best preparation in preserving and conserving water availability.
“In preparation for all of this development nga gina-antisipar naton, let us also pursue the best preparation to provide sang pinakaimportante sa pangabuhi sang tawo aside from shelter and clothing, amo ini ang availability sang water,” he said.
Further, Gumarin emphasized that Guimaras as an agri-ecotourism capital in Region 6 must prepare for the upcoming El Niño.
“We are a growing community, we choose to be an agri-ecotourism capital in Region 6 and therefore we need to make sure that in the future were prepared. Nearly all dried up kita sang nagligad nga El Niño and that’s an eye opener sa aton. We must prepare sa maabot nga El Niño para indi kita maalang-alang,” Gumarin said.
The project aims to improve access of quality domestic water at community level by building locale – specific empirical data and by recommending concrete local mechanisms for monitoring, regulation of water extraction and point source – pollution, and orderly contracting for water provisioning.
Their research project selected subject areas were the fifteen (15) barangays of the province of Guimaras namely: Agsanayan, San Miguel, Concordia Sur, Ravina and Igcawayan for upland areas, Mclain, Poblacion, San Roque, Alegria and Sebario for lowland areas and for coastal areas were the Getulio, Buluangan, Dolores, Sebaste and Suclaran.
Moreover, Dr. Rosalie Arcala Hall, Research Program Leader from the College of Arts and Sciences, UP Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo explained their research project and its goal.
“Ang amon nga goal i-improve ang access sang quality domestic water at the community level by building locale-specific empirical data. So, ang amon original nga punto is ma-create sang empirical nga science based nga data, pila bala ang tubig dira, paanu ini gina gamit, anu ang consumptive practices or paanu bala gina consumed ang water,” she said.
The forum resource speakers were the UPV research team, Prof. Emeliza C. Lozada, Dr. Joy C. Lizada, Dr. Dennis C. Ong, and Ms. Bea F. Gequiñana.
