FACT SHEET

The Water Security for Resilient Economic Growth and Stability

(Be Secure) Project

Leyte
USAID supports the people of Leyte Province by increasing access to
sustainable water supply and wastewater treatment services, RESULTS AT A
rehabilitating typhoon-damaged water systems and strengthening GLANCE
resiliency to climate change impacts.
 82,856 people will gain
access to an improved
WATER SUPPLY AND WATER SECURITY drinking water source

Repair of Typhoon-Damaged Water Systems and Technical Assistance  100,000 people will
on the Protection and Improvement of Water System Facilities gain access to water in
Be Secure is working to rehabilitate vital water supply facilities damaged by Tacloban North
Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Repair works have been completed for
Baybay City Water District and Metro Carigara Water District. Repairs for
Kananga Municipal Waterworks and San Miguel Municipal Waterworks will
 75,000 people will gain
access to an improved
start soon and will be completed within 2015. Be Secure is also planning to
sanitation facility.
provide technical assistance to Leyte Metro Water District, Ormoc City
Waterworks, Metro Hilongos Water District, Isabel Water District and
Albuera Municipal Waterworks. The construction work is based on climate-  14 small-scale water
resilient engineering designs to “build back better” the facilities that were service providers and
damaged. utilities gained an increased
capacity to deliver water
Supporting Water Access for the Poor supply, wastewater
Be Secure is assisting the Department of the Interior and Local Government treatment or sanitation
Encasement of facilities.
pipes for
(DILG) to implement the Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat (SALINTUBIG)
Baybay City Water Program which provides grants and technical assistance to develop water
District – one of the systems in waterless communities. Be Secure trained 24 local government  11 LGUs that Be Secure
climate-resilient units on preparing feasibility studies, 11 of which have already received assisted in feasibility study
repairs done to funding from the program. Be Secure also trained 31 field technical staff of the preparation have received
rehabilitate Department of Social Welfare and Development to design and evaluate water SALINTUBIG funding for
typhoon-damaged sub-projects and assist communities in developing sustainable water systems the improvement of their
water systems in to support the water component of its National Community-Driven water systems.
Leyte. Development Project Project.
 4,728 person-hours of
Rehabilitation and Improvement of Typhoon-Damaged Water Systems training in improved water
for Schools and Health Units and sanitation practices.
Be Secure is rehabilitating water systems for public schools and health facilities
damaged by Typhoon Yolanda. The Project is collaborating with the USAID
Rebuild Program and other partners for this initiative.  3,246 person-hours of
training in global climate
Provision of Bulk Water Supply to Tacloban North change.
100,000 people in the resettlement area of Tacloban City North will gain
access to potable water through a bulk water supply project that Be Secure is
facilitating under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme for Tacloban City.
 4 policies, laws or plans
on water and wastewater
Be Secure has already completed the feasibility study for the city to enable the treatment were developed,
implementation of the PPP scheme. adopted or implemented.

June  2015
Supporting Small-Scale Community Based Water Service Providers
Be Secure trained 120 participants from 41 small-scale water service providers (WSPs) in Leyte to
address water supply challenges and build resilience to climate change impacts during a 3-day
conference to help small WSPs improve and expand their services. The small WSPs developed
preliminary action plans that focus on rehabilitation of water systems, service expansion, capacity
building, water permit assistance and business planning. Be Secure is reviewing the plans for possible
assistance.
Supporting the National Survey on Water Utilities
Be Secure is helping to develop a national database called Listahang Tubig to improve the management
of water resources in the country and enhance regulation of WSPs. It is led by the National Water
Resources Board with DILG and the Local Water Utilities Administration as implementing partners.
The USAID
The World Bank provided nationwide training and Be Secure provided mentoring and quality control
assistance during the data gathering in Leyte and its other focal areas. Be Secure is also hosting the Be Secure Project
cloud-based portal of Listahang Tubig.
The Be Secure Project is a
four-year activity focused
SEPTAGE MANAGEMENT on delivering two
Establishing Tacloban City’s Septage Management Program intermediate results:
Be Secure assisted Tacloban City in developing a program to regularly desludge septic tanks and treat
the septage, and is currently providing technical assistance on the construction of its septage (1) Increased sustainable
management facility, which will benefit 75,000 people. Be Secure will also train the City Environment and access to water supply and
Natural Resources Office to effectively operate and maintain the facility. Be Secure is collaborating with wastewater treatment
the United Nations Children’s Fund and Samaritan’s Purse on this initiative. Be Secure plans to replicate services; and
its efforts on septage management in Ormoc City.
(2) Increased resilience to
CLIMATE RESILIENCY climate-related water
stress and hydrological
Vulnerability Assessments and Hazard Mapping extremes.
Downscaled climate projections for Leyte are being developed by its partner Manila Observatory to help
the province better prepare for climate change impacts over time. Using the Representative It is implemented in six
Concentration Pathways (RCP) scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 5th focal areas: Basilan, Iloilo,
Assessment Report (AR5 released in March 2014) and multiple global climate model projections, climate Leyte, Maguindanao,
projections will be downscaled to 25 km resolution for Leyte Province. The findings, as well as an earlier Misamis Oriental and
survey of water sources, will be used to produce provincial climate hazard maps and to conduct a water Zamboanga.
resources vulnerability assessment for Tacloban City.
At the national level,
Institutionalizing Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation activities focus on
Be Secure, through its partner Waterlinks, facilitated a twinning partnership between Leyte and Albay strengthening water sector
Provinces to enhance Leyte's local disaster management capacity. The twinning partnership helped regulatory reform.
develop a shared framework of disaster preparedness and standardized procedures, and has improved
climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction inputs to planning at the provincial and municipal For local and regional
levels. As a result, Leyte's Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office was established activities, the project
and strengthened. The Municipality of Palo and Barangay Tacuranga also passed a municipal ordinance works with local
and barangay resolution to strengthen their Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office government units and
and Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee, respectively. water service providers
for the provision of water
Helping Water Districts Become Climate Resilient supply and wastewater
Be Secure trained 24 participants from 8 water districts on how to address climate change impacts and treatment services, and to
develop climate resilient water systems in a 2-day workshop in Leyte. Each water district drafted improve capacities for
preliminary climate change adaptation action plans that will be further developed with support from Be integrating climate change
Secure. A Community of Practice on Climate Change was also established in partnership with the into local planning.
Philippine Association of Water Districts to enhance the climate resilience of water utilities in the
Philippines, and Leyte Metro Water District is one of the members. They will be mentored by the
Florida Water and Climate Alliance.

The USAID Be Secure Project In Leyte, contact:

For more information, contact:
Misty Magistrado
Provincial Coordinator
Dani Newcomb
Be Secure Project
Division Director
2nd Floor DILG Region 8
Office of Environment, Energy and Climate Change
Kanhuraw Hill, Tacloban City
U.S. Agency for International Development
Email: [email protected]
Annex 2 Building, U.S. Embassy
1201 Roxas Boulevard 1000, Ermita, Manila www.facebook.com/besecureph
Email: [email protected]