Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna visited the remote island of Tumalutab, Zamboanga City to personally inspect the impact of the administration’s flagship water security program to an island barangay that was surrounded by the sea but had nothing to drink.
During his visit, Cuna held a dialogue with residents who shared the “pains” of living for decades in a state of constant water insecurity.
The 3,436 residents of the island—mostly informal laborers and fisherfolk who earn an average P1,000 per month—previously viewed water as liquid gold, paying an exorbitant P50 to P70 per 5-gallon container.
With the water filtration system installed last December, families can now get water for P30 per container, which goes to the operation and maintenance of the system.
“The families don’t have to choose between food and a gallon of clean water anymore.”
The families don’t have to choose between food and a gallon of clean water anymore, Barangay Chairman Joemar Abunawas said in the local dialect.
Abunawas also described the daily struggle of crossing open waters to the mainland or hauling heavy containers on manual wooden carts from shallow, contaminated wells.
Before the project, many children and adults frequently suffered from stomach aches and health issues due to the poor quality of water from deep wells, their primary water source, he shared.
Cuna emphasized, “This project is a result of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.’s directives to prioritize underserved and underprivileged barangays.”
The Tumalutab Water Filtration and Desalination Project, valued at approximately P2.4 million, is one of the initial six pilot sites of the DENR-Water Resources Management Office’s (WRMO) P485 million national roadmap. The system utilizes high-performance desalination technology to process saline water into a sustainable, life-sustaining supply.
“The outcome has been a total shift in the island’s economy and health.”
Abunawas explained that the outcome has been a total shift in the island’s economy and health:
Massive Cost Savings: The price of safe drinking water has been slashed by over 50%, dropping from P70 to a managed rate of P20 to P25 per container.
Health and Sanitation: The project has significantly improved sanitation levels, directly addressing the prevalence of waterborne illnesses in the village.
Community Sustainability: The fees collected from water sales are now managed locally by the barangay to fund the maintenance and operation of the system, ensuring the island will never return to its dry past.
The environment chief concluded the visit by affirming that Tumalutab is just the beginning.
Under the President’s “marching orders,” the WRMO is set to complete over 30 island and remote village projects before the end of 2026, targeting a cumulative total of 440,904 beneficiaries nationwide.
