CEBU CITY, March 16 -- The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) wants to address the looming water crisis due to the El Nino phenomenon in its takeover of the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD).

Ronnie Ong, chair of LWUA, told the Philippine News Agency on Saturday that taking over would address losses that MCWD incurred over the years.

Ong said the water district had losses of 20.34 million cubic meters (cu. m) in 2020, followed by 24.542 million cu. m in 2021, and 29.481 cu. m in 2022.

"Siyempre pinapatupad po natin ang utos ni Presidente (Ferdinand) Marcos Jr. dahil sa El Nino. Alam natin ang spread ng MCWD sa dami ng served communities, apat na highly urbanized cities at apat na municipalities (Of course we are implementing th...