History and Developmental Growth of the Philippine Association of Water Districts

The Philippine Association of Water Districts, Inc. or PAWD (pa-wad) is the umbrella organization of all duly organized water districts (WDs) in the Philippines. A few pioneer water districts including those established in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Marawi, San Pablo, Davao and Cebu founded it on August 31, 1974.

The water district concept was born out of necessity with the failure and subsequent abolition of the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA), then supervisory agency for provincial water supply in the country. The government, after two studies, had commissioned the Adrian Wilson and James Montgomery, a joint-consultancy firm, to conduct another exhaustive studies and submit recommendations for the formulation of a national policy that would ensure Filipinos in the countryside access to safe, potable, adequate and reliable water supply anytime of the day.

The recommendations of the Adrian Wilson and James Montgomery resulted to the enactment of the Presidential Decree No. 198, otherwise known as the Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973, to wit: "Declaring a national policy favoring local operation and control of water systems; authorizing the formation of local water districts and providing for the goverment and administration of such districts; chartering a national administration to facilitate improvement of local water utilities; granting said administration such powers as are necessary to optimize public service from water utility operations, and for other purposes."

The idea of creating a national umbrella organization for all the water districts saw light on August 31, 1974 when Mr. Emmet Lowry, a consultant from the James M. Montgomery firm, initiated a meeting of water district officers to discuss this proposal. Eleven water district officers, all General Managers, then attended the meeting. These General Managers comprised the core members of the PAWD and thereafter became charter members. This explains the reason why in the PAWD, membership was then represented by the general manager.

Within the span of three years, the organization gained national recognition when the First Lady Imelda Marcos, newly appointed Minister of Human Settlements, tapped one of the PAWD GMs to be the National Action Officer for Water. A water summit was convened at the PICC and because it was under the sponsorship of the powerful First Lady, the summit attracted the participation of local government executives and other national functionaries dealing with water in general. It was at this point that the members of the Boards of water districts decided to join the Association. In a tumultuous meeting after the Annual LWUA-Water District Forum in Legaspi, Albay, sometime in June 1978, the PAWD was reborn with an amended constitution to accomodate the Chairmen of water district Boards. Thus, the Board of Governors and Executive Council were created. Their functions simulated the working relations of Board of Directors and General Managers of water districts. The Board of Governors lays down policies and, in turn, heads a set of Executive Council.

It was also established as it now stands that membership in the PAWD is by water districts and not by individual members. Member-water districts are represented by their Chairmen and General Managers. As the number of water districts grew, the formation of regional and provincial organizations became necessary for more effective interaction with smaller water districts. The present set up thus emerged. As it now stands, the PAWD is effectively a federation of regional water district organizations/associations.

The PAWD had gone through a lot. Through the years, it had shown that it was no mere paper organization. A lot of people could still remember vividly that chaotic year 1986, following the first EDSA uprising. The PAWD then stood as one and called the attention of the new leaders, after the fall of Marcos, and secured solid support for the water districts concept.

The transition from the private character of water districts to government-owned and -controlled corporations(GOCCs) was another crisis that brought into the fore the real mettle of PAWD. Water districts were originally quasi-public corporations. However, on September 13, 1991, the Supreme Court ruled that water districts are GOCCs, and should therefore be placed under the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Commission on Audit (COA). PAWD, through various working committees, coordinated with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Department of Budget and Finance (DBM), COA, CSC and other government agencies to ensure a transition without dislocating the water districts' vital service of providing safe water to their consumers.

Now, 32 years old, tempered by several crises of huge proportions that have beset water districts, the PAWD has matured into a dynamic institution that helps water districts provide the more than 15 million Filipinos in the countryside with adequate potable water supply.

Measuring the strength of an association entails one to look at the time it has existed and the kind of progress it has made for the betterment of its membership. If an association remains standing despite the passage of time and enables to weather all the challenges with ease, thus showing its resiliency to all odds, such an association is more likely to exist even much longer. Thus, judging its performance for the last 31 years, the PAWD will surely exist even stronger for the next 31 years and beyond.