The national government’s role in local water supply delivery in the Philippines

Improving water supply and sanitation is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation by 2030. This Policy Note examines the national government’s role in local water supply provision. It found that fund utilization is higher for national government initiatives than the mandated local development fund (LDF), which is the source of local government units (LGUs) infrastructure spending. This could create a problem in the future, especially with the implementation of the Mandanas ruling in 2022, which could drastically lower the national government’s budget for infrastructure support programs. Thus, this study recommends that LGUs be capacitated in investment planning, identifying bottlenecks, and finding solutions for the delayed utilization of their LDF. Meanwhile, suppose the national government decides to continue these water infrastructure projects. In that case, the study suggests these must be strategically targeted, given the weak evidence that past programs were associated with regional poverty and water supply access.