“NO WATER is the most expensive water of all.” Mayor Raisa Treñas’ remark captures in plain words what thousands of Iloilo City households endure daily: when water does not flow from the tap, the burden on families — especially the poorest — multiplies.
In Iloilo City, the promise of a modern urban lifestyle collides with the reality of erratic water service. Metro Pacific Iloilo Water (MPIW) has been operating in the city for more than five years, yet its own Aug. 3, 2025 status report shows only 46.76 million liters per day (MLD) in available supply and coverage of just 31 percent of households. That leaves more than two-thirds of Iloilo’s 150,000 households scrambling for alternatives. For these families, “unreliable service” is not an inconvenience — it is an extra expense they cannot afford.
The costs add up quickly. A 20-liter container of refilled water, which many households now rely on for drinking and cooking, can cost P25 to P35. Multiply that by several containers per week, and the monthly expense rivals or even exceeds the typical water bill of a household with a regular connection. Those who resort to tanker deliveries pay even more. Add to this the cost of storage drums, improvised catchment systems, and the time spent fetching water, and it becomes clear why the absence of reliable supply makes water the most expensive commodity in the home.
The irony is sharpest for low-income families. For them, every peso spent on buying water is a peso taken away from food, education, or medicine. Water shortages deepen inequality, penalizing those who can least afford it. For the well-off, an unreliable tap may mean inconvenience; for the poor, it can mean hardship and indignity. This is the true cost of unreliability — not just in pesos and centavos, but in the erosion of fairness and quality of life.
Beyond the household, the economic impact ripples outward. Small businesses dependent on water — eateries, laundries, even sari-sari stores selling cold drinks — shoulder higher operating costs or risk shutting down. Public health is also put at risk, as families without access to safe water turn to unsafe sources, inviting outbreaks of waterborne diseases. In short, when water is unreliable, the city pays in lost productivity, higher healthcare costs, and diminished investor confidence.
MPIW cannot dismiss this as a technical challenge to be solved “in due time.” The company must act with a true sense urgency. It must have time-bound solutions for expanding supply, reducing non-revenue water, and reaching every household. In other words, its efforts to improve service must keep pace with the fast growth of IIoilo City, not lag behind it. The city government must therefore step up its oversight to ensure that no Ilonggo is left behind in the delivery of this most essential service.
Water is a necessity for all. Iloilo City’s future cannot be built on expensive water by the gallon. The measure of progress is not found in press releases or production claims, but in the simple reality of water flowing from every tap, every day, in every home.
Until then, “the most expensive water” will remain a bitter truth for too many Ilonggos.
