Mandatory rainwater system in houses to reduce flooding sought

With the regular recurrence of dry spells, it is time to make the installation of a rainwater collection system (RCS) “mandatory” in all buildings, residential or commercial, if only to mitigate flooding, according to a senior administration lawmaker.

- 

“The global extreme weather conditions apparently due to climate change prompted the idea calling for the mandatory RCS installation in all residential, commercial and institutional buildings that would be built in the future,” Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said.

Barbers urged his colleagues in the House of Representatives to approve House Bill 4837 that he authored, mandating an RCS in all new residential, commercial and institutional buildings, particularly in densely populated areas of the country.

Barbers, who chairs the House committee on dangerous drugs, said the primary objective of his bill was to “promote sufficient potable water supply in times of calamities or weather disturbances like El Niño and reduce floodings in times of La Niña in the country.”