Philippine water advocates gather in huge assembly vs. privatization : QC IMC

About 400 participants representing 109 organizations from all over the Philippines gathered for the First National People’s Convention on Water last August 10-11 at the College of Social Welfare and Community Development (CSWCD) University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

The Water for the People Network organized the two-day convention, which drew the participation of consumer groups; water district unions; organizations of peasants, fisherfolk, and indigenous peoples; urban poor communities; officials of government’s water agencies; progressive legislators; universities and colleges; non-government organizations and other people’s organizations and advocacy groups.

Foreign water advocates from the National Coalition Against Water Privatization (Ghana), Water and Energy Users Federation (Nepal), People’s Coalition for the Rights to Water (Indonesia), and Friends of the Earth (Japan) also participated in the convention.

"Globalization has not improved water services for the people whether for household use, agriculture, fisheries, or enterprises. Neither has it improved conservation nor ensured water supply. Globalization merely established foreign corporate control over our water resources," declares Antonio Tujan Jr., research director of IBON Foundation, in his keynote speech.

Tujan blamed the Philippine government for abandoning its responsibility to assure water resource conservation, proper utilization and regulation, appropriate infrastructure development, respect for ancestral domains and community concerns, and effective water services and regard for consumer rights.

"The people’s water convention shall address all these issues and come up with a unified analysis and concrete proposals for people’s action, a people’s water code, and campaign plans and other activities to push forward the people’s agenda on water," Tujan says.

Renato Reyes Jr., director of Popular Struggles Commission of the New Patriotic Alliance, meanwhile, says that the water convention will further strengthen the Filipino people’s campaign against water privatization.

"We have already established the Water for the People Network as a concrete step to consolidate our struggles against water privatization. A convention further strengthens our network," says Reyes in his address to the participants.

Leading water advocate Tony Clarke of the Canada-based Polaris Institute congratulated the Water for the People Network for organizing the convention. In a statement, Clarke expressed hope that the convention will further inspire the building up of a worldwide movement of water warriors to counter the corporate theft of the people’s water.

Aside from concrete proposals on strategies and actions, the delegates also came up with ‘The Filipino People’s Water Code.’ It outlined the basic principles on how to view water as a human right, as part of the national patrimony, as a people’s resource, and as a public good as well as framework policies and programs for implementing pro-people reforms on water. (end)