CHALLENGES OF WATER GOVERNANCE IN TANDAG CITY

CHALLENGES OF WATER GOVERNANCE IN TANDAG CITY. A Special Problem Paper by: Fran Therese C. Manjares.

Part 1 Introduction. Water is a fundamental human need.

Background of the Study. Legal Basis. . RA 9275 - The Philippine Clean Water Act.

Review of Related Literature Foreign Doppelt (2000) asserted that effective watershed stewardship and sustainable development can only be achieved if the system used to guide the process effectively balances the tensions between freedom and constraint, empowerment and accountability, top-down direction and bottom-up creativity, and between experimentation and efficiency..

Review of Related Literature Foreign Franks and Cleaver (2007) added that it requires better understanding of the mechanisms of water governance, of local structures and processes of decision-making, and how social relationships, norms and daily practices interact with management systems and shape access to water by the poor..

Review of Related Literature Foreign Kingdom , et al. (2006) asserted that non-revenue water (NRW) reduction can be achieved through contractual schemes that allow a water utility to remain under public management..

Review of Related Literature Local ( Rola , 2015) suggested that water institution, including the laws, policies and organizations defining this should have one vision and one goal . Pascual (2009) stressed to have a continued partnership, information, and educational campaigns among all stakeholders on the sustainability of water for all. Malayang (2003) added that water policy and management are likely to become more robust if their formulations are produced by compatible decisions and actions of all four centers of governance ..

Synthesis The water governance should not only rely on their capacity alone. They can tap the Local Government Unit and other agencies, both public and private to improve their services and other programs and bring out clearer vision and goal and strengthen their agreement to provide better customer service and sound decision. Also , the management should embrace the trend and improve their services, may it be in dealing the customers with their inquiries or requests to upgrading their equipment..

Conceptual Framework This study posit certain variables on the challenges of water governance in Tandag City, namely: the consumers’ demographic profile extent of implementation of the different management practice services of Water District as perceived by consumers and employees, and the challenges of water governance in Tandag City.

Conceptual Framework Schematic Diagram.

Objective of the Study To determine the respondent’s demographic profile To recognize the extent of implementation of the different management practice services of Water District as perceived by employees To identify the challenges of water governance in Tandag City; and, To craft an intervention program based on the findings of the study..

Scope and Limitation of the Study The study focused mainly on the challenges of water governance in Tandag City. The respondents of the study were the employees of Tandag City Water District (TCWD). Ten (10) employees, regardless of their position, were randomly selected to be part of the study..

Significance of the Study. . Water Consumers. TCWD Employees.

Definition of Terms Concessionaire. It refers to the owner or operator of a water concession. Consumers. This pertains to the people of Tandag City who receive water services from the water service provider. Ground water. It refers to the water held underground in the soil or in the pores and crevices in rock. Land-based sources. It refers to industries and commercial establishments, agriculture and community/household activities. Land management. It pertains to a process of managing the use and development of land resources both urban and rural settings..

Definition of Terms Pollution . It is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. Watershed. It pertains to an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas. Water Governance. It refers to the political, social, economic and administrative systems in place that influence water’s use and management. Water Pollution. It is defined as the presence in groundwater of toxic chemicals and biological agents that exceed what is naturally found in the water and may pose a threat to human health and/or environment. Water Supply. It refers to a source, means, or process of supplying water usually including reservoirs, tunnels, and pipelines ..

Research Methodology Research Design This study is quantitative in nature as it collects and analyses numerical data. It uses patterns, averages, predictions, test causal relationships, and generalized results..

Research Methodology Research Locale This study was conducted in Tandag City ..

Research Methodology Research Respondents Respondents of the study were the employees of Tandag City Water District ( TCWD), randomly selected, regardless of their position and employment status in the organization..

Research Methodology Research Instrument A researcher-made questionnaire was utilized for the study. The questions were taken from the services offered by the institution based on the Citizen’s Charter. ( 1) the respondents profile, ( 2) the management practices and services implemented ( 3) the challenges of water governance of Tandag City Water District.

Research Methodology Data Gathering Procedure Approval from the General Manager Informed Consent Form (ICF) from random TCWD employees.

Research Methodology. Statistical Treatment. Percentage.

Part 2 Result and Discussion. Demographic Profile of the Respondents 21 – 30 years old – 60% 31 – 40 years old – 10% 41 – 50 years old – 20% 51 – 60 years old – 10% All Female.

Result and Discussion Number of Years as Consumer.

Result and Discussion Educational Attainment. College Graduate – 60% With Masteral Units – 40%.

Result and Discussion Number of Years in Service.

Result and Discussion Position in the Organization.

Result and Discussion Table 2. Management Practices and Services Implemented in Water District Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating POLICIES AND REGULATIONS 1. The management strictly implements their policies and schedules, e.g. installation, disconnection, reading of bills, and privileges of concessionaires. 4.7 Strongly Agree 2. Prior to the installation, the management clearly brief and orient the applicants on the policies and regulations the applicant need to be aware of. 5 Strongly Agree 3. The management provides Citizen’s Charter and posted in the conspicuous area for the customers to be guided. 4.8 Strongly Agree 4. The water district coordinates, organizes, and deals with the municipality in various activities relative to watershed protection. 4.8 Strongly Agree 5. The Board of Directors continuously creates resolutions for unceasing improvement and protection of the water system. 4.6 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.78 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 3. Management Practices and Services Implemented in Water District Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating CUSTOMER SERVICE INTERACTION 1. The employees of water district are courteous, respectful, and professional in their approach towards the customers . 4.4 Strongly Agree 2. The employees are responsive on the request and complaints of the customers and provide solutions to the problem. 4.6 Strongly Agree 3. The management requires the employees to wear proper and presentable uniform and wear ID for easy identification. 4.5 Strongly Agree 4. The management maintains speedy dealing of services and easy doing of transaction according to the time allocated as indicated in the Citizen Charter. 4.4 Strongly Agree 5. The management provides friendly and comfortable ambiance of transaction; employees are credible enough to perform on their respective functions towards customer’s satisfaction. 4.7 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.52 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 4. Management Practices and Services Implemented in Water District Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating WATER SERVICES 1. The quality of water (taste, color, and smell) distributed to households is potable and satisfactory. 3.8 Agree 2. In terms of water availability, the consumers are satisfied with its 24/7 supply of water. 3.4 Agree 3. The management implements vigorous procedure for the treatment of water at different stages of production from the source to filtration, chlorination, and distribution. 4.4 Strongly Agree 4. The results of water quality in treatment plants and distribution system are publicly available, e.g. bacte -test and physical and chemical test. 4.3 Strongly Agree 4. The management secures that the servicing water is clean, safe, and reliable water supplies. 4.4 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.06 Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 5. Management Practices and Services Implemented in Water District Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating BILLING AND COLLECTION 1. The management improves the bill collection ratios with appropriate penalties for late or non-payment. 4.7 Strongly Agree 2. The management makes clear exactly what customers are paying and the charges of the bills (if any). 4.7 Strongly Agree 3. The water district implements progressive tariff structure. 4.3 Strongly Agree 4. There is a decrease of delinquent accounts and concessionaires are encouraged to pay on time. 4.4 Strongly Agree 5. The management sends Notice of Disconnection prior to the disconnection period. 4.2 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.46 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 6. Management Practices and Services Implemented in Water District Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating SERVICE REQUESTS/COMPLAINTS 1. The employees attend to concessionaire’s complaints and respond to the request immediately. 4.6 Strongly Agree 2. Concessionaire is given ample time to express his/her complaints and were given just and full attention. 4.7 Strongly Agree 3. A complaint is entertained according to the service request form forwarded to the technical group, and will be entertained following the “first come first serve 4basis” policy. 4.3 Strongly Agree 4. The management provides complaints desk and a person in-charge to receive complaints. 4.8 Strongly Agree 5. A feedback form is provided to assess whether the complaint is successfully resolved. 4.2 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.52 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 7. Management Practices and Services Implemented in Water District Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating INSTALLATIONS AND REPAIR SERVICES 1. The water district improves their distribution systems and establishes leakage control to enhance water allocation efficiency. 4.6 Strongly Agree 2. Illegal connections and connection without meters are strictly monitored. 4.3 Strongly Agree 3. The management eliminates incorrect measurements, replaces and repairs water meters and ensures that all meters are in full operation. 4.4 Strongly Agree 4. There is a regular inspection of water main lines to ensure that water distributions are clean and safe. 4.5 Strongly Agree 5. Water meters are installed by-clusters and installed in safe areas. 4.4 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.44 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 8. Management Practices and Services Implemented in Water District Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating PUBLIC RELATIONS 1. The management conducts awareness and educates the public in the proper use of water by giving leaflets, brochures or posting of tarpaulins. 3.8 Agree 2 .The management gives importance to the IPs communities as partners in preserving water resources and in the watershed areas. 3.8 Agree 3. The management creates programs that promote proper water management such as tree planting or tree growing activities. 4.9 Strongly Agree 4. The management collaborates with other agencies and in the Local Government Unit relative to the implementation of protecting the water resources. 4.7 Strongly Agree 5. The management ties up with the barangays, people’s organizations, and other agencies involved in disseminating, promoting, and preserving the water resources. 4.2 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.28 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 9. Challenges of Water Governance in Tandag City Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating POLICIES AND REGULATIONS 1. The management constantly checks and monitors their policies and guidelines. 4.5 Strongly Agree 2. Applicants are always informed of the policies and regulations of the water district, so they will be guided accordingly. 4.6 Strongly Agree 3. Water concessionaires are made aware of the Citizen’s Charter, so that they will be aware of the process in every office. 4.5 Strongly Agree 4. To fully implement the programs of the water district, the management always coordinates with the LGU for wide dissemination. 4.2 Strongly Agree 5. Board of Directors constantly forms laws and resolutions to improve their services. 4.5 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.46 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 10. Challenges of Water Governance in Tandag City Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating CUSTOMER SERVICE INTERACTION 1. All employees are courteous and respectful towards the customers and their colleagues. 4.3 Strongly Agree 2. The employees are responsive to the needs of the customers, respond to their complaints, and provide better solutions. 4.5 Strongly Agree 3. Customers ’ feedbacks are taken seriously and addressed in a timely manner. 4.6 Strongly Agree 4. The management adheres to the time allocated stipulated in the Citizen’s Charter in dealing of services and transactions. 4.4 Strongly Agree 5. The management maintains harmonious atmosphere to their customers; employees are approachable and perform their duty well. 4.5 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.46 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 11. Challenges of Water Governance in Tandag City Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating WATER SERVICES 1. The management maintains clean, safe, and potable water for consumers. 4.4 Strongly Agree 2. Water concessionaires can easily access to water services anytime. 4.2 Strongly Agree 3. The management maintains water treatment regularly. 4.7 Strongly Agree 4. The management informs and updates the public of their water treatments and other similar activities. 4.1 Agree 5. The management adapts water scheduling scheme when the water supply drops. 4.6 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.4 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 12. Challenges of Water Governance in Tandag City Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating BILLING AND COLLECTION 1. The management must embrace online payment applications. 3.7 Agree 2. The management may partner with other establishments and creates outlets that accept billing payment for customer’s convenience. 4.2 Strongly Agree 3. State-of-the-art billing system application must be purchased by the management for up-to-date transactions, bill notification, notice of disconnection, and similar notifications. 4.6 Strongly Agree 4. The management may consider partial payment of the concurrent bill. 4.0 Agree 5. The management may consider payment method among water concessionaires. 4.7 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.24 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 13. Challenges of Water Governance in Tandag City Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating SERVICE REQUESTS/COMPLAINTS 1. Designated personnel answers customer’s complaints on time. 4.7 Strongly Agree 2. Online accounts such as Facebook, Twiiter , and the likes must be created to accommodate customer’s feedback. 4.9 Strongly Agree 3. The assigned personnel who accept customer’s request or complaints thru landline is very responsive. 4.6 Strongly Agree 4. Responsive and quick actions towards complaints and feedbacks. 4.5 Strongly Agree 5. Feedback mechanism is used to keep the consumers posted. 4.3 Strongly Agree OVERALL RATING 4.6 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 14. Challenges of Water Governance in Tandag City Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating INSTALLATION AND REPAIR SERVICES 1. New technology may be purchased to detect areas under maintenance or repair. 4.2 Strongly Agree 2. Additional reservoir must be considered due to the increase of water concessionaires. 4.8 Strongly Agree 3. Immediate response of installations/re-installations and repairs. 4.4 Strongly Agree 4. The management strictly monitors the equipment every month. 4.4 Strongly Agree 5. Consumers receive notification via text or alert messages a day or two prior to the maintenance of equipment. 4.1 Agree OVERALL RATING 4.38 Strongly Agree.

Result and Discussion Table 15. Challenges of Water Governance in Tandag City Weighted Mean Adjectival Rating PUBLIC RELATIONS 1. The management conducts programs and similar activities by visiting every barangay informing and educating the public on water conservation. 3.1 Undecided 2. The management may also use television, media, and online platforms to educate the public of proper water conservation. 4.6 Strongly Agree 3. The management campaigns water reservation and conservation quarterly. 3.4 Agree 4. Aside from their water service, the management reaches out to the public and offers livelihood assistance and outreach program. 3.3 Undecided 5. The management constantly consults the public on how to improve their services. 3.5 Agree OVERALL RATING 3.58 Agree.

Part 3 Conclusion & Recommendations. Conclusions: 1. It is found out that majority of the respondents belong to 21-30 age range, all female, water consumers between 1-5 years and 20 years or more, living in semi-concrete one-storey building, college graduates, and with 4-6 members in the family. As to occupation, majority are connected with the water district between 2-5 years, attended seminars not more than 40 hours, and part of the rank and file..

Conclusion & Recommendations. Conclusions: 2. On the management practices and services implemented in water district, the institution has established its policies and regulations as it ranked first among the identified practice services, followed by customer service interaction and service requests and complaints. Third is for the billing and collections, followed by installation and repair services, then public relations, and lastly, the water services. Though the latter received an adjectival rating of Agree, the first six received an adjectival rating of Strongly Agree..

Conclusion & Recommendations. Conclusions: 3. On the challenges of water governance of Tandag City, the management should focus more on complaints and management as it received more reviews, followed by policies and regulations and customer service interaction. Third is on water services, followed by installation and repair, then billing and collection, and lastly, the public relation..

Conclusion & Recommendations. Recommendations: 1. The management should hire competent and skilled workers who can do job and deliver excellent service to the customers. Thus, the management should accept at least college graduates and with experience or have attended seminars related to the job description. Advanced study is an advantage for the position. Those already in the position, the management should send their employees to different trainings and seminars to provide excellent service to their customers..

Conclusion & Recommendations. Recommendations: 2. Though most of the services provided by the institution received an adjectival rating of Strongly Agree, the management should not be complacent. They have to maintain or if not level up their services to meet the needs of the growing water consumers. Also, there are other services the management should look into that need big improvement. On water service for instance, the management should make sure that the water supply must be safe for drinking and it should undergo rigorous process to make sure it is potable and of good quality. Also, the management should make sure that the availability of the water service can be accessed anytime. As mentioned above, the management should improve their services. The result of this study can be used as their basis of their services that need improvement..

Conclusion & Recommendations. Recommendations: 3. There are a lot of challenges the management need to identify and improve going forward. It was found out that among services offered by the institution, handling services requests and complaints received overwhelming reviews. Handling customers’ complaints and how to address them needs to be reviewed by the management. It is highly recommended that the management should create online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. and the eminent need for the availability of online payment like Gcash , bank transfer, etc. where most of the customers are embracing this trend. Customers can easily get in touch with the water district personnel and relay their complaints. This way, long queues in person and on call can be prevented. As to the person in-charge of the online platforms, the management should assign someone who is knowledgeable of their services and responds to the requests promptly..

Activity Design. Project Title : Seminar-Workshop on Personality Development Implementing Unit : HRM Section Activity Description : Conduct of Seminar-Workshop on Personality Development to Section Heads, Unit Heads of Tandag City Water District Implementation Details: a ) Location - Tandag City WD Office b ) Date - February 18, 20221, 8:00am – 05:00pm c ) Participants - All Section and Unit Heads of Tandag City Water District.

Activity Design. Rationale As the government-owned and controlled corporation and the only water district in the city, Tandag City Water District (TCWD) aims to provide highest quality service to the customers and deliver potable water for the benefit of all the people in Tandag . However, the institution receives a lot of reviews on their governance and services provided. True to its vision and goals, the management is open to holistic improvement. Hence, this activity proposal is created. Objectives To improve personality development among employees; and To advance customer service experience.

Activity Design. Proposed Budget for the said activity: Meals (P280.00/ pax x 20 persons) Php 5,600.00 Snacks (P100.00/ pax x 20 persons) 2,000.00 Speaker Honorarium 3,000.00 Certificates (Speaker and Participants) 1,000.00 Contingency 900.00 Total Budget 12,500.00 Prepared by: Funds Availability: Approved by: FRAN THERESE C. MANJARES FLOYD M. MENDEZ, CPA EULOGIO D. MILLA, CE, ASEAN Eng U/CSA-C Head , Finance Section General Manager.

References. Doppelt , Bob (2000). Emerging Approaches to Watershed Governance. Retrieved from http :// www.mekonginfo.org/assets/midocs/0001613-inland-waters-emerging-approaches-to-watershed-governance-new-approaches-to-guide-sustainable-ecological-economic-and-organizational-performance-within-the-wate.pdf on October 12, 2021 Environmental Management Bureau. Retrieved on October 1, 2021 from https ://r12.emb.gov.ph/ra-9275-the-philippine-clean-water-act/ Franks T. R. and Cleaver, F.D. (2007) Water Governance and Poverty: A Framework for Analysis. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/136393.pdf on October 9, 2021 Kingdom , Bill, et al. (2006). The Challenge of Reducing Non-Revenue Water (NRW) in Developing Countries. How the Private Sector can Help: A Look at the Performance-Based Service Contracting. Retrieved on November 6, 2021 from https://ppiaf.org/documents/2076/download.