With 2 million customers from marginalized communities now enjoying 24/7 water supply under its flagship program Tubig Para Sa Barangay or Water for the Community, Manila Water has endeavored to ensure that the same uninterrupted supply will be available to public service institutions commonly patronized by low-income families under its various Lingap or We Care programs.
Included in these public service institutions are schools and day care centers under the Lingap Eskwela program, public markets under Patubig sa Palengke, hospitals and health centers under, Lingap Ospital and even orphanages under Lingap Ampunan.
Manila Water undertakes the rehabilitation of water lines leading to these institutions and provides technical assistance on the repair and rehabilitation work of their respective internal reticulation systems. Drinking fountains and wash areas are also installed particularly in schools and day care centers and hospitals especially now that they have been part of the safety provisions against COVID-19.
Since the inception of the various Lingap programs in early 2000, Manila Water has completed around 326 schools, 22 hospitals, public markets, 12 detention centers, 19 barangay halls, 10 day-care centers, 10 orphanages and 7 other institutions such as churches, parks, and stadiums. Since 2019, the Manila Water Foundation, in coordination with its partners, has begun to take on the rehabilitation of the schools’ facilities under the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program.
“It has always been our mission to make water and sanitation available not only within the confines of homes but also in public service institutions which are regularly visited by most of our customers,” says Jeric Sevilla, Manila Water’s Group Head for Corporate Communication Affairs. “It is not only a matter of providing them water supply, but we need to ensure that our services remain uninterrupted and water flows 24/7 for these important institutions, especially now that face-to-face classes have already resumed, and mobility has returned to pre-pandemic levels with the easing of restrictions.”
“Even during the height of the pandemic in 2020, Manila Water worked round-the-clock to be able to provide 24/7 reliable water supply to our more than 7 million customers in the East Zone and Rizal Province. We are fully cognizant of the important need for water for health and hygiene with the scourge of the COVID-19; hence, we continued to implement augmentation and additional water sources just so that clean water will be available all the time,” says Sevilla. #
