By Kalinga Seneviratne*

LILOAN, Philippines, Nov 17 (IPS/AMIC) - This municipality of 80,000 people living in 14 ‘barangay’ or villages has a spectacular five-kilometre beach that is popular with beachgoers. During weekends, they come in droves from Cebu City, just a 30-minute drive away.

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

MANILA, Nov 12 (IPS/AMIC) - Supporters call it a model for the future. But critics say it is a conspiracy by multilateral financial institutions to privatise water supplies and open the floodgates for multinational corporations to reap profits from Asia’s poor.

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, May 18 (IPS) - For the past 11 years, Scott Sharpe, a diver from Hawaii, has been exploring the undersea world off the coast of the Philippines. It is the beauty of that country's marine life that drew him to the archipelago.

Yet increasingly, there are disturbing signs underwater. ''Everyday, the environmental stress on the marine life increases,'' says the 51-year-old owner of the Subic Bay Marine Exploratorium. ‘'One of the reasons is because of the impact of global warming caused by forests being cut.''

MARIKINA CITY, Philippines, Sep 27 (Asia Water Wire) – More than a decade since it invaded the Marikina River, it looks like the ‘curse’ of the  ‘janitor fish’, popular among aquarium enthusiasts, may finally turn into a blessing with efforts by the local government and the work of a budding scientist.

Thus far, the janitor fish's infiltration and domination of other fish in the Marikina River, in Metro Manila, have caused much dismay and frustration to local fishermen.

Despite being a world class tourism destination, the island of Boracay is facing a serious water crisis.

 

 

   This small island of Caticlan Municipality in Aklan is presently witnessing a tourism boom which has led to the mushrooming of infrastructure projects. New hotels are being built regularly, such as a large hotel chain to cater to the growing number of visitors.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines (Asia Water Wire) - In this mountain resort town, a mining town during the U.S. colonial era, water has become such a precious commodity that one of the biggest gold mines here is switching from producing gold to water.

   Benguet Corp Inc. (BCI), among the biggest and earliest mining operators in this South-east Asian country, is closer to converting its open-cast mine into one giant water reservoir to service the needs of the 300,000 residents of this town, a popular tourist town for Filipinos escaping the summer heat in the lowlands.