More than a hundred households in two neighboring sub-villages of Barangays Tapi and Salong in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, walk about two kilometers every day to fetch water, as they share a single source that has remained their only option for decades.
Dina Padilla, a resident of Sitio Torre in Barangay Tapi, said families wake up early to carry empty containers before they can cook, clean, or bathe.
Padilla said residents feel happy when it rains because they can store water. On ordinary days, they struggle, and during the dry season, they face an even bigger problem. “If it doesn’t rain, we have no choice but to walk far every day,” she said in Hiligaynon.
She added that families cannot dig deep wells because their area has no underground water supply.
An elderly resident, who requested not to be named, said she continues to fetch water despite being in her 70s. She works as a laborer and tends to her ailing husband. “I have no choice but to carry water. We need it every day,” she said.
Meanwhile, Alfredo Claud, purok chairman of Purok Torre in Barangay Salong, said the only water source lies far from the community and belongs to Malou Columna. He noted that residents who own tricycles transport containers themselves, while others pay extra fees to secure enough water for their households.
Residents said that even a simple solution—such as building a water tank and laying a small hose to bring the supply closer—would already mean a lifeline for their community.
The water shortage in Tapi and Salong reflects a wider problem nationwide. In 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Philippines faces a “water crisis,” with around 11 million families lacking access to clean and safe water.
Speaking at the sixth Water Philippines Conference and Exposition in Manila, Marcos urged the country to adopt modern water management technologies. He said the Philippines relies too much on underground aquifers and must improve its filtration systems to better manage surface water.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sevillo David Jr., executive director of the National Water Resources Board, said in the same year that Filipino families still rely on unsanitary sources such as deep wells, rivers, lakes, and rainwater. That figure accounts for nearly half of the country’s 26.39 million households, based on 2020 government data.
For residents of Tapi and Salong, those statistics describe their daily reality. They continue to carry the heavy load of water across kilometers, hoping authorities will finally bring lasting solutions to their community.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, contributes to Negros Daily Bulletin, and maintains a blog on Medium.