WESTERN VISAYAS has 504 refilling stations of purified drinking water but only 154 have accreditation from the Department of Health (DOH). A lot of them have not secured the DOH stamp of approval. As to why, we have yet to know.

Last year, Iloilo City has 113 registered-operational water refilling stations. But reports disclose that only 23 have the sanitary permit from the DOH. As to what happened to the rest, they have a lot of explaining to do.

Sometime last year, Local Water Utility Administrator (LWUA) Lorenzo (Larry) Jamora raised this highly alarming question: “How sure are you that the purified drinking waters you buy and drink are really safe?”

This concedes a point to our arguments that some members of Iloilo Purified Drinking Water Association (IPDWA) are not following the guidelines that have been set by the DOH on commercial drinking water purifying station.

The Code of Sanitation of the Philippines states that no source of water supply shall be tapped by operators, unless, they have fully secured first the operational permits signed by the regional health director.

A moratorium had been granted to water refilling station operators in 2005 for them to have enough time to meet all the standard requirements of the DOH prior to the issuance of the initial operational permits.

But the moratorium lapsed on December 31, 2006, yet, some IPDWA members failed to comply with DOH requirements. As reported, there are still around 70 percent of the total refilling stations without sanitation permit. And this is what got us all so excited!

According to the IPDWA president, those who applied for initial and operational permits may have done it only for personal gains. What’s more, these water-refilling stations are not charitable institutions. Therefore, operators’ motive is only profit, nothing else.

Mayor Jerry Treñas has once warned operators that he will padlock or close their refilling stations if these cannot comply with the DOH requirements. But to date I heard of none closed down. Due to reports of typhoid outbreak in the city, it is a must for them to have a sanitation permit.

Section 16 of the Sanitation Code of the Philippines, states that any person engaged in water business who violates, disobeys, refuses, omits or neglects any of the provisions of the rules and regulations shall be held guilty.

But the penal provision has a lighter impact to violators. Yet, the perceived risk to the public in case of diarrhea and typhoid outbreak due to unsafe water from these water refilling-stations is great.

The practice of IPDWA members to skip the DOH requirements does not sit well with the consumers. Their delayed compliance with what the health authorities required of them could have more disastrous effect.

Water refilling station operators that have no sanitary permit don’t bother securing one in order to avoid additional expenses. But these people don’t have the faintest idea that their consumers are in danger of becoming the last casualty.

Worse, Mr. Carlos Denosta, president of IPDWA has even once admitted that he has no sanitation permit when he operates a refilling station. Well, in short, the exception proves that their gross neglect is a deliberate misdeed.

The greater danger is that we are now under weird climatic condition. It rains even during summer and we cannot ascertain if those refilling stations are getting their water supply from a clean source or deep-well and not from the canal that stinks!

This is not what we think the business of the IPDWA is all about. Water refilling station operators can disregard the DOH requirements but let us not allow them to inch closer to legalizing unsafe water selling business!

We are now facing rice shortage and we have a lot of human vultures that breed during crisis. Refilling stations should sell us safe water to drink as there are a lot of families who only have water for breakfast. If you still cheat on them, where is your heart then?

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