Marikina City 2nd District Representative Miro Quimbo urged the Marikina City government to take over the Tumana waterworks system to prevent another water service cutoff and finally address a decades-long problem.
Quimbo welcomed the restoration of water service in Barangay Tumana, noting the hardship residents faced during the outage.
“Nakakabawas ng pag-aalala ang balitang may tubig na sa Barangay Tumana. Hindi ko po lubos maisip kung paano aandar ang araw nila ng walang tubig na tumutulo sa kanilang mga gripo,” he said, adding that water tanks and fire trucks were mobilized to assist affected households.
He credited cooperation among local officials for the temporary relief.
“Sa nakaraang mga araw, ipinapakita na iba talaga ang nagagawa kapag nagtutulungan ang ating mga lingkod bayan… Ito po ang ibig sabihin ng ‘paglilingkod na walang kulay kulay, walang parti-partido,’” Quimbo said.
However, the lawmaker stressed that the reconnection is only temporary and warned of recurring disconnections without a permanent fix.
“Kaya itodo na natin, dahil matagal nang uhaw ang Tumana sa isang pangmatagalang solusyon,” he said, adding, “Kapag hindi ito mahahanapan ng pang matagalang solusyon, siguradong mauulit ulit ang paglobo ng utang at pagkaka disconnect ng Manila Water. Sigurado yan.”
Citing Tumana’s 24-year experience, Quimbo said barangays lack the capacity to run a water system.
“Walang technical expertise at collection capacity ang isang barangay… Hindi rin nila mahinto ang mga illegal connections,” he said.
Quimbo called on the city government to assume responsibility.
“Ano ang permanenteng solusyon sa problema ng tubig sa ating barangay? The City Government must now perform its duty under the Local Government. It must NOW TAKE OVER the operation and management of the Tumana waterworks system,” he said, noting that the city has the technical and financial departments to manage it.
He cited the Local Government Code to support the move.
“More importantly, sa ilalim Local Government Code, sa section 17, malinaw na ang City Government ang may responsibilidad na mag construct at i-manage ang waterworks system,” he said.
Quimbo also pushed for the continuation of building a modern water system, citing successful projects in other barangays.
“Nagawa na po natin ito sa Singkamas, Farmers 1, Mustasa, Talong, at Kalabasa,” he said, adding that these efforts are key to solving Tumana’s long-standing water problem.
“Para sa Marikina, itodo na natin ang walang kulay na paglilingkod, nagkakaisa sa hangaring paunlarin ang buhay ng bawat pamilyang Marikenyo.”