Thirst that cannot be Quenched

by Alex Siegfrid Padilla, Opinion Editor

If only the world had In-Game physics.

I grew up with the label ‘iPad kid’ - always glued to a screen playing games. One of those games is ‘Minecraft’. Whenever I boot up a world, I will never forget about making a 2x2 hole on the ground then filling it up with water, this becomes my infinite water source.

In life, and even in games, water is a valuable resource. Difference is, water is not infinite in real life, and it definitely is not in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, one of the most known water reservoirs is the Angat Dam, supplying nearly all of the needs of Metro Manila and Bulacan. Although now, it is below its critical threshold of 160 meters of water level at 157 meters. This is after it rose 0.39 meters, still too little to notice.

Water does not simply evaporate overnight. The Angat Dam did not just lose its water and then one day went below its critical level. We can go back to the year 2023, when the president formally stated (and recognized) the then looming water crisis in the country.

Three years have passed since that statement, and where are we at now? In a possibly worse situation than then. Especially since the Philippines currently houses 44 thirsty AI data centers.

The government’s solution to the water shortage has been this: cut off the water supply of the farmers to supply the demand of households — and let us not forget, those thirsty data centers.

Expectedly, this does not address the issue properly and it definitely will not solve it. Especially with Pax Silica being planned in the country, which could further strain on the country’s water supply.

If even the ‘iPad kid’ at 7 years old is aware that water is important for his world to thrive that he has to make an infinite source of it, I cannot help but wonder why a country with a water crisis continues to choose to introduce more projects demanding water as if the country or the world has an infinite source of it.

As Filipinos who are directly affected by this crisis, let us begin our efforts to address its effects. Let us learn to conserve water in our households and speak out against these projects that plan to exacerbate the water shortage in the country.

It has always been clear that the world is not a game with infinite water physics. So why is the government still acting like it is?#