MANILA — Manila Water, through the Manila Water Foundation, Inc. (MWF), is providing free bottled drinking water to earthquake victims in North Cotabato and Davao del Sur.
As of Monday, Manila Water spokesman Jeric Sevilla Jr. said 2,020 five-gallon bottles of Healthy Family drinking water were donated to the evacuation centers in Kidapawan City and the towns of Makilala and Tulunan in North Cotabato, the hardest-hit areas by the 6.6 and 6.5 magnitude earthquakes on Oct. 29 and Oct. 31, respectively.
He said another 300 bottles of water were also donated to the town of Magsaysay in Davao del Sur.
“We treat with urgency the distribution of drinking water to the evacuation centers to avert further issues such as the spread of illnesses and diseases. That is why we are also engaging volunteer employees from Manila Water’s subsidiaries in Mindanao as well,” said Reginald Andal, MWF executive director.
Manila Water has also put on stand-by one of its Mobile Treatment Plants (MTP), which has the capability of treating and converting river water, flood water, and even saltwater into potable drinking water.
The MTP is currently stationed in Caticlan in Boracay and ready to be deployed anytime to the other earthquake-stricken areas in Mindanao.
Sevilla said the disaster response is a concerted effort of the entire Manila Water Enterprise, with help from teams within Manila Water Operations, Manila Water Total Solutions, Manila Water Philippine Ventures, and Manila Water Foundation.