MANILA, PHILIPPINES, September 12, 2008. – The first Philippine Portal for the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector was officially launched today at the Batis Function Area of the Manila Ocean Park, Luneta, Manila.

The PhilWATSAN Portal is a virtual platform to facilitate the exchange and use of knowledge and information on water supply and sanitation among institutions in the sector and other relevant organizations. It also seeks to address the following issues in the sector: 1) weak linkages and networking among sector agencies; 2) lack of an integrated knowledge-based repository on water supply and sanitation; and the 3) low priority given to knowledge dissemination and sharing in the sector.

The PhilWATSAN Portal is intended as a mechanism for improving coordination among agencies in the sector through knowledge sharing. It is a collaborative project (formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement in December 2006) among agencies in the sector namely, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Agriculture thru its Bureau of Soils and Water Management (DA-BWSM), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), and the National Anti-Poverty Commission thru its Water Supply and Sanitation Coordinating Office (NAPC-WASCO). The project is being led by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) through the support of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) Water and Sanitation Program.

The gathering of these ten (10) key sector agencies to jointly establish a central knowledge-based repository on watsan is a first step to improving coordination by recognizing the need to harmonize knowledge and information in the sector. The portal is also an essential component of the Philippine Water Supply Sector Roadmap as a mechanism for monitoring and assessment of programs and projects.

This activity was organized by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) Water and Sanitation Program.