Nationwide Communal Water Pump Program

November 23, 1978

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 770

WHEREAS, the provision of adequate water supply at reasonable rates is a primary objective of the New Society;

WHEREAS, surveys show that only one-third of the rural areas have access to artesian wells and the remaining two-thirds, estimated at about 20 million people, have no adequate water supply; cd i

WHEREAS, there is immediate need for the implementation of a national program for construction/ rehabilitation of water supply to areas not covered by National, Provincial, or City water resource agencies;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby Order and Instruct:

1. The Minister of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, the Minister of Local Government and Community Development, and the Minister of the Budget shall design and implement a communal water pump system program with the objective of having a reliable and adequate water source within 500 meters of each household throughout the nation.

The Program shall consist of (a) the rehabilitation of existing but unserviceable wells and pumps, and (b) the construction of new wells and pumps, using the latest available low-cost methods. The national government shall provide technological assistance and necessary material, while local governments and barangays shall provide labor. acd

2. The Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communication, through the Task Force on Rural Water Supply, shall direct and manage the "Bagong Lipunan Communal Water Pump Program."

3. Actual construction shall be done by private contractors, by the Bureau of Public Works, or by local residents under the supervision of the Task Force on Rural Water Supply, whichever is found to be most economical.

4. The projects contemplated herein shall not cost more than one thousand pesos each, for materials including the pump. Labor shall be provided or mobilized by local government units and barangays and shall constitute the local counterpart in this program.

5. A total of at least 10,000 pumps shall be completed and turned over to communities by December 31, 1979.

6. The Ministry of the Budget shall earmark and release to the Task Force on Rural Water Supply, the maximum amount of ten million pesos (P10,000,000) in initial implementation of this Program, chargeable to the funds provided as aid to Local Government Units under P.D. No. 144. The task Force shall, in addition, be allotted the sum of one million pesos (P1,000,000) from the Special Activities Fund, for operating expenses and supervision costs incidental to the Program.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 23rd day of November, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Eight. acd