The Philippine delegation to the 4th Word Water Forum in Mexico City will submit a collective report to the League of Cities of the Philippines that will highlight the involvement of local governments in the effective management of the water resource, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said.

Leonardia, who is the deputy secretary-general for the Visayas of the League of Cities of the Philippines, was a member of the country's official four-member delegation to the 4th World Forum from March 16-22, at the Banamex Center in Mexico City. With Leonardia were mayors Abraham Tolentino of Tagaytay City, Julian Resuello of San Carlos, Pangasinan and Mario Rogelio Antalan from the Island Garden City of Samal, Davao.

The forum sought to enable multi-stakeholder participation and dialog to influence water policy-making at a global level, and assure better living standards for people world-wide.

Leonardia said their collective report will be presented by Antalan to the Mayor's League and will be shared with all the other city mayors. He said the resolutions proposed during the forum will also be submitted to the United Nations.

The Philippine delegation, composed of the different government and non-government agencies, was headed by Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes, he said.

Leonardia said the Water Forum, which is held every three years, was participated in by about 10,000 delegates from more than 100 countries in the world. He said the forum emphasized the theme "Local Action for Global Concerns" since what was highlighted is that water, second to air, is the most precious resource on this planet.

Leonardia said, globally, the involvement of local governments is needed for the effective management and preservation of water resource. He said he intends to turn over the volumes of reading materials he brought along from the forum to the Bacolod City Water District so they could benefit from it and this would redound to better water facilities in Bacolod.*CGS

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