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Republic Act No. 6716

March 17, 1989

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER WELLS, RAINWATER

COLLECTORS, DEVELOPMENT OF SPRINGS AND REHABILITATION OF EXISTING

WATER WELLS IN ALL BARANGAYS IN THE PHILIPPINES

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy.—It is hereby declared to be the national policy to

promote the quality of life of every Filipino through the provision of adequate social

service including, but not limited to, the provision of adequate potable water supply

made conveniently available to every barangay in the country.

SECTION 2. Water Wells, Rainwater Collectors and Spring Development.—The

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) shall, within thirty (30) days

after the approval of this Act, undertake construction of water wells, rainwater

collectors, development of springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all

barangays in the Philippines in such number as may be needed and feasible, taking

into consideration the population, hydrologic conditions, costs of project

development and operations, financial and economic factors and institutional

arrangements: Provided, however, That the DPWH shall deduct not more than five

percent (5%) for supervision, engineering, technical and other overhead expenses

or fees: Provided, further, That each barangay in the country shall have at least one

additional potable water source.

SECTION 3. Operation and Maintenance.—In order to ensure the proper use of the

water facilities herein provided, a Barangay Waterworks and Sanitation Association,

herein referred to as BWSA, shall be formed and organized for the purpose of

maintaining the water facilities: Provided, That pending the organization of the

BWSA, the water facilities shall be operated and maintained by the barangay

council.

The BWSA shall be composed of the member-consumers who shall administer,

operate and maintain the completed water facility and shall be registered with the

corresponding municipal or city council.

The BWSA may impose such minimal charges as may be necessary for the

maintenance and normal repairs of said facility. Nothing herein shall prevent any

resident of the locality from using the water facility under the same terms and

conditions as the member-consumers of the BWSA.

Organizing and training the recipient communities in the operation and

maintenance of water systems shall be conducted by the DPWH prior to the

turnover of such facilities to the BWSA subject to the guidelines to be formulated by

the Department.

SECTION 4. Submission of Report.—The Department of Public Works and Highways

shall, within ninety (90) days after the approval of this Act and every one hundred

eighty (180) days thereafter, submit periodic reports to the respective Committees

on Public Works and Highways of both Houses of the Congress of the Philippines for

evaluation and consideration.

SECTION 5. Funding.—The sum needed for the implementation of the construction,

rehabilitation and repair program shall be taken from any available appropriations

for the Department of Public Works and Highways in the General Appropriations

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Act for 1989: Provided, That funds for this purpose shall also be included in the

General Appropriations Act for 1990 and 1991: Provided, further, That the total

program shall be completed not later than June 30, 1991, and: Provided, finally, That

there shall be equitable and proportionate appropriations of funds annually for this

purpose for all provinces, cities and municipalities. In addition, a portion of financial

grants and concessional loans extended to the Philippines by foreign governments

and multilateral agencies every year, the amount to be determined by the President,

shall be allocated by the Department of Budget and Management to augment the

appropriations of the Department of Public Works and Highways until one hundred

thousand (100,000) water wells, rainwater collectors, and springs are completed as

envisioned in this Act.

SECTION 6. Effectivity.—This Act shall take effect upon its publication in at least

two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved: March 17, 1989

DILG to LGUs: Construct rainwater

collectors

A February 20, 2012 press release from the Department of the Interior and

Local Government

As an effective measure to prevent flooding especially in low-lying areas,

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo is

calling on all local chief executives to include the construction of rainwater

collectors in their respective development plans or climate change action plans.

Robredo said the installation of rainwater collectors and rainwater collection

systems (RWCS) is provided for under Republic Act (RA) No. 6716 or the “Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Law,” which promotes RWCS as a mechanism to promote water conservation and control flooding.

He said RWCS provide a simple and cost-effective means to preserve water, reduce

flooding, provide water buffer, and recharge aquifers. “These (rainwater collectors) will be useful both during the wet and dry seasons, since they would not only lessen the impact of floods on our people, but would also serve as our additional water resource during summer,” the DILG Secretary said. In his directive to provincial governors, city and municipal mayors, and punong

barangays, Robredo urged them to include the promotion of RWCS technologies

applicable at the community level and install RWCS in local government unit (LGU)

infrastructure, where appropriate. “These shall serve as models to encourage households in constituent communities to adopt RWCS in a smaller scale,” he said. As national agencies involved in the implementation of programs on water and

sanitation, and as members of the Advisory Board to the Climate Change

Commission, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and DILG

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earlier forged a memorandum of agreement to signify both agencies’ commitment for the promotion, popularization, and implementation of rainwater collection

facilities consistent with the intent of RA 6716.

For its part, the DILG provided information on the prototype designs developed by

the DPWH on RWCS that may be adopted by local governments. It is also pursuing

efforts to reiterate and intensify promotion of RWCS as a disaster/CCA mitigation

intervention, and to pursue the advocacy for LGU adoption of RWCS.

On the other hand, the DPWH is promoting rainwater harvesting for non-domestic

use and spearheading the construction of RWCS in public schools as part of its

climate change adaptation program.

In the same directive, Robredo directed all DILG regional directors to initiate the

implementation of showcasing RWCS in their respective offices.

He also advised local chief executives and DILG regional offices to seek assistance

from the DPWH district offices for the construction of RWCS using DPWH prototype

designs.

Probe on DPWH's failure to

implement rainwater collections

construction sought

05 December 2011 08:43:28 AM

Writer: Lorelei V. Castillo, MRS-PRIB

A lawmaker has called on the House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry into

the failure of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to construct

water wells, rainwater collectors, development of springs and rehabilitation of

existing water wells in all barangays in the country.

Rep. Angelo Palmones (Party-list, Agham), author of House Resolution 1917, said

that since Republic Act 6716 was enacted on March 17, 1989, only four rainwater

collectors were constructed from January to June 2009 as claimed by the Global

Legal Action on Climate Change (GLACC) when they petitioned the Supreme Court to

compel local government units to implement the law.

"This is contrary to the targeted 100,000 water wells, rain water collectors and

springs to be constructed as envisioned in the Act," Palmones said. R.A. 6716

provides for the construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, development of

springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays nationwide.

Palmones said R.A. 6716 provides that DPWH shall, within 30 days after the

approval of the Act, construct water wells, rainwater collectors, development of

springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays in the country in

such number as may be needed and feasible, taking into consideration the

population, hydrologic conditions, costs of project development and operations,

financial and economic factors and institutional arrangements.

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The law also provides that the budget needed for the implementation of R.A. 6716

shall be taken from any available appropriations of the DPWH in the General

Appropriations Act (GAA) for 1989 and shall be included in the GAA for 1990 and

1991 and that the total program shall be completed not later than June 30, 1991,

Palmones added.

In filing the resolution, Palmones noted the Constitutional policy of the State to

promote the quality of life of every Filipino through the provision of adequate social

service such as the provision of adequate potable water supply made conveniently

available to every barangay in the country.

"The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services

Administration (PAGASA) already disclosed that based on their climate forecast

models there will be a shift in the weather patterns in the next 50 years wherein the

western seaboard in Northern Luzon will become wetter while the Mindanao area

will become drier," Palmones said.

Palmones said PAGASA recently issued a bulletin indicating that La Niña is expected

to occur between December 2011 and February 2012 with anticipated flooding.

"Rainwater collection is necessary not only for the provision of potable water and

for agricultural and industrial purposes but also as mitigating measure against

floods," Palmones said.

Palmones stressed that it is imperative for the DPWH to complete the construction

of what remains of the 100,000 target before La Niña sets in.

Palmones said RA 6716 further provides that to ensure the proper use of the water

facilities, a Barangay Waterworks and Sanitation Association (BWSA) shall be

formed and organized for the purpose of maintaining the water facilities.

Palmones said the law mandates the DPWH to organize and train recipient

communities in the operation and maintenance of water systems prior to the

turnover of such facilities to the BWSA subject to the guidelines to be formulated by

the Department.

Source: http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=5695

Reviving a stillborn law

By Juan L. Mercado

Philippine Daily Inquirer

5:04 am | Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Floods from abnormal cloudbursts have ebbed. Images of sweepstakes scam players

now dominate the front pages and TV screens. They have dislodged pictures of

water hyacinths clogging Rio Grande de Mindanao. Drenched Metro Manila and

Cebu City are drying out. “Dig the well before you get thirsty,” Chinese sages counsel. Did anybody use cisterns, as required by the Rainwater Catchment Law (RA 6716)? Future summers

will be hotter—and permanent—as the equatorial “band of rain” shifts, altering weather, caution University of Washington scientists.

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A ghastly triage, meanwhile, plays out in today’s Horn of Africa drought. Starving mothers abandon dying children to save those who can shuffle another day towards

jammed UN refugee camps, the BBC reports.

The Philippine government set up four demonstration rainwater collectors out of the 100,000 that RA 6716 set. That’s 0.004 percent of target. Not a single pork-

barrel centavo went for cisterns, although 66 out of every 100 Filipinos lack water. Indeed, “the law hath not been dead, though it hath slept,” as Shakespeare wrote. Yet water could whittle down infant mortality rates, now hovering at 52 per 100,000. Compare that to Thailand’s 17. “These are preventable deaths,” Viewpoint noted four years ago. “The most fractured human right in this country is that of a child to celebrate his first birthday.” This is also “gross negligence,” 2009 Magsaysay Awardee Antonio Oposa said when he asked the Supreme Court to issue its first writ of kalikasan ever to compel the

government to implement a law stillborn from cynical indifference.

Look at the track record. On behalf of 43 minors, Oposa filed a class suit arguing that the kids’ constitutional rights to a healthy environment were threatened by rampant logging. The Supreme Court agreed and spelled out the “inter-generational equity” principle. Written by then Chief Justice Hilario Davide, the 1993 decision affirmed Oposa’s main thrust: that the interests of future generations should be protected by the courts. “A triumph of principle, the case set a precedent for how citizens can leverage the law to protect the environment,” the Magsaysay Award citation recalled.

In 1999, a citizens group, led by Oposa, sued to hold government liable for the

pollution of Manila Bay. It took 10 years to argue. But the Court directed 12 agencies

to rehabilitate the Bay.

Since then, there has been an initial but still fragile reversal of near-blanket infraction of RA 6716, Oposa told “Viewpoint.” We have “a more responsive government this time,” he said. Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Public Works Secretary Rogelio

Singson signed on June 6 a little noticed but significant memorandum of agreement

to implement the moribund rainwater collections systems law. The MOA sketches

out joint action, from stock-taking and providing technical help to securing funds in

the 2012 budget. Credit for the slogging work in crafting this MOA “goes to the Union of Local Authorities’ Monina Camacho and Solicitor General Joel Cadiz,” Oposa wrote. “We may submit this to the Supreme Court. It may well become the first environmental case decided as a ‘consent decree’.” Who knows? As the the late US Sen. Barry Goldwater once mused, “A man will fight over three things: water, women and gold—usually in that order.” Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo W. Antonino, for his part, took issue with “Viewpoint’s” criticism of his House Bill 4252, entitled “Freedom of Information and Transparency Act of 2011.”

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This column endorsed Antonino’s support for FOI but noted that the bill snitched sections 10 and 16 from former Rep. Monico Puentevella’s HB3306 and Sen. Bong Revilla’s SB 2150 which would legislate compulsory “right of reply” measures. The 14th Congress rightly scrapped them as constitutionally prohibited “prior restraint.” “My legislative horizons are not ‘constricted’ to local issues,” Antonino protested. “This is an insult to my reputation as a legislator with a track record of having principally authored 21 Republic Acts of national character out of 33 bills in the previous 14th Congress.” “I am the principal author of 10 House bills” in the current Congress, he wrote. “And this only took place on my first year of my three-year term.” These range from HB 756 which defines “terrorist financing as crime” to HB 4638 which regulates the

practice of nutrition and dietetics. “Media should not broadcast or print without giving those mentioned the ability to reply to the same audience with the same prominence in the program or print

article. Case in fact is your column which belittled my legislative performance as ‘constricted’.” Antonino didn’t comment on Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada’s statement to Philippine Press Institute members which said: “HB 4252 covers two different matters: freedom of information and right of reply. Each should stand or fall on its own merits.” “Silenced songbirds” last July 5 elicited reactions from Australia to the United States. Inquirer provided “interesting facts about the Sulu hornbill,” e-mailed Bless Salonga from Sydney. “All the more reason why they should be protected. You are so right. We torture animals in the Philippines.” “I used to brag if I shot a bird because I was bloody ignorant,” Mario Aldeguer e-mailed. “Nobody taught us better… The punishment for killing a panda in China without authority is death… They mean business. What is really frightening is the destruction of our coral base. Our staple food is basically fish. And we’re destroying its food source.” Enforce RA 6716, Echiverri appeals to

DPWH By ED MAHILUM

July 25, 2010, 2:24pm

Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri Sunday appealed to the Department of Public

Works and Highways (DPWH) to immediately enforce Republic Act 6716, the law

which states the need to have water wells, develop water wells, and rainwater

collectors to avoid repetition of the water supply problem that affects residents of

Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

Citing the enormous problems that the water shortage did to many parts of Metro

Manila, Echiverri said that it is high time the DPWH should implement RA 6716. He

said the law has been approved by Congress in 1989 but up to now it has remained "inutile" “Panahon na para ipatupad ng DPWH ang naturang batas dahil may 21 taon

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na rin naman nila itong tinulugan sapagkat noon pang 1989 ito naaprubahan ng Kongreso,” the mayor said. "The problem of water supply was not duly addressed, that’s why residents are now hard-pressed to find a viable source for potable water to be used in their daily

routine," he said.

Echiverri said that the water crisis gripping the country today including parts of

Metro Manila, would not have happened and its resident spared of hardship

altogether if only R.A. 6716 would have been fully enforced.

The water shortage has affected many parts of Caloocan notably Bagong Barrio, Sta.

Quiteria, Baesa, Talipapa and other areas in the northern portion of the city's 1st

district.

Many residents in affected areas in Metro Manila have queued themselves with their

pails, basin from morning until afternoon from where they can avail water for their

daily routine.

Earlier the city government started water rationing to affected areas, two or three

days the water supply fell short to lessen the burden of the household members.

Once the law is fully enforced, residents would no longer have to worry about water

supply since there would always be a viable water source nearby, the mayor said.

The local chief executive is optimistic that the national government would consider

his appeal noting that a lot of people would benefit from it once it is implemented.

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/268715/enforce-ra-6716-echiverri-appeals-dpwh

Supreme Court orders government to answer first

kalikasan petition

By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star) Updated April 29, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the government to answer a

petition of a group of environmentalists seeking the creation of rainwater collectors in the

country.

SC spokesman Midas Marquez said the national government agencies led by Malacañang,

the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of the Interior

and Local Government representing the 80 provinces, 150 cities, 1,400 towns and 42,000

barangays were given 10 days to comment on the petition filed by the group led by Ramon

Magsaysay awardee and environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr.

The SC allowed the petition of Oposa who led the Global Legal Action on Climate Change

calling on the national government to come up with a more effective nationwide flood

control project by implementing a 1989 law for rainwater collectors in all barangays.

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It was the first case to invoke the writ of kalikasan issued by the SC earlier this month and

which takes effect today.

Oposa’s group led invoked the 21-year-old Republic Act 6716 (Rainwater Collector and

Springs Development Law), which was also implemented for local government units under

the Local Government Code.

Oposa said they are frustrated with the government for its inaction to implement the law in

the face of severe weather fluctuations from too much rain brought by tropical storm “Ondoy” to the current dry spell caused by the El Niño phenomenon. The group accused the government of “gross negligence in the performance of public duty” since the DPWH only started complying with RA 6716 last year and completed just four of

the 100,000 rainwater catchments required by the law to be completed in 1991.

“The anxiety of always alternating between flooding and water scarcity is too much to bear for us ordinary citizens. It must stop,” the group stated in their petition.

In their petition, the Global Legal Action on Climate Change cited the successful

implementation of the scheme in Singapore and India where rainwater collectors have

become significant.

In the Philippines where there are extremely wet and dry seasons, the group said water

wells serve as catchment areas to prevent flooding during the rainy season and as sources

of freshwater during the dry season.

Rainwater collectors, the group said, also recharge aquifers, improve micro-climatic

conditions, and serve as source of recreation and spiritual soothing as well as of food such

as fish and vegetables.

The group urged the SC to order the concerned government agencies and LGUs to submit a

detailed action plan on how they would implement RA 6716 and appoint a commissioner to

monitor its implementation.

The petitioners believe this will prevent destructive flooding before the rainy season strikes, citing the country’s experiences during “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” last year.

Source: http://thelawofnature.ph/republic-act-no-6716-water-wells-rainwater-collectors-

and-spring-development/

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PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

Forgotten law never enforced can solve water crisis, floodings

By Alcuin Papa

First Posted 00:05:00 07/25/2010

THE IMPLEMENTATION of a little-known law requiring that barangays construct

catchments or reservoirs to collect rainwater would have helped solve the ongoing water crisis and the country’s regular flooding woes, according to an environmental lawyer.

Antonio Oposa Jr., a professor of environmental law at the University of the

Philippines, cited Republic Act No. 6716, the law that provides for the construction

of water wells, rainwater collectors, development of springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all of the country’s barangays. The law, designed to save rainwater during the rainy season in catchments or

sumps, was passed in 1989 and has never been implemented, according to Oposa. “The water shortage and rationing that we are again going through has been coming for a long time. We are being flooded during the rainy season, yet we are undergoing

severe water shortage. And all because we forgot, or simply neglected to implement,

a simple law that requires the construction of rainwater catchment/collectors in every barangay,” he said. He described the most simple rainwater catchment system as a specially prepared

hole in the lowest level of a vacant lot to capture rain water from the sky or from the

ground. If properly designed, ground catchment systems can collect large quantities

of rainwater.

Oposa said harvested rainwater can provide supplemental water for nonpotable

household requirements, mitigate flooding by providing a receptacle for excess

water and increase soil moisture levels for urban greenery, thus providing areas for

recreation.

But by far the most important benefit is the replenishment of and improvement in

the quality of ground water from where the country draws its supply of drinking

water, he said.

The rainwater that is saved refill the aquifers or natural reservoirs in a process

called groundwater recharge, where the runoff on the ground is collected and

allowed to be absorbed, raising the groundwater level and increasing the amount of

water stored in the aquifers.

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“If we only captured rainwater during the rainy season in cavities of the Earth as Nature intended, flooding would be minimized, if not altogether eliminated,” said Oposa.

Sickbed of non-compliance

According to Oposa, the mandate for the construction of the rainwater collectors

was originally given to the Department of Public Works and Highways but later

devolved to local government units.

In June 2009, Oposa and the Global Legal Action on Climate Change wrote to the

DPWH inquiring into the implementation of the law.

In its reply dated Aug. 6, 2009, the DPWH said that from January to June 2009, it had

put up only four demonstration rainwater collectors.

The law mandates that there should be at least 100,000 rainwater collectors and

catchment areas all over the country by 1991.

With the number of basins already built by the DPWH, compliance with the RA 6716

is actually at 0.004 percent, said Oposa. “This number is so minuscule, microscopic and infinitesimal that in law, it is

tantamount to gross negligence in the performance of public duty. It also presents a clear, unmistakable and palpable cause of action for a writ of mandamus,” he said. Last April, Oposa and a group of concerned citizens filed action with the Supreme Court, which they called a writ of “kalikasan,” asking the high court to compel the government to implement RA 6716 “that has long languished in the sickbed of noncompliance.”

Respondents not responding

Named as respondents were the Office of the President, the DPWH, the Department

of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the newly created Climate Change

Commission, 80 provinces, 150 cities, 1,400 municipalities and all 42,000

barangays.

None of the respondents have responded. Only the League of Provinces,

representing the 80 provinces, has filed a comment, questioning the complaint on

procedural matters. Last year, Oposa, who led a citizen’s group in filing a case holding the government liable for the pollution and cleanup of the Manila Bay, won a landmark decision from

the Supreme Court which compelled 11 government agencies to rehabilitate the bay

and report the progress of the work to the high court.

It was cited by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation that chose Oposa to be one of six Asians conferred Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize in 2009.