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An 80-year-old woman with a special ?gift? of locating underground water sources has been hired again by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, this time to address the water crisis in upland barangays suffering from El Niño.
Choleng Legaspi, a ?water diviner?, doesn?t use instruments to ?see? where the water sources are, including springs buried 1,000 feet below.
So far, this mother of five from Biñan, Laguna province, has identified 30 water sources in six mountain barangays since Tuesday, when she and City Hall personnel began searching the hinterland villages.
?There is lots of water underground,? Legaspi told Cebu Daily News, after walking around the rolling terrain.
It was the second time the city had commissioned Legaspi after she identified 20 water sources in the South Road Properties (SRP).
The woman was introduced to Mayor Osmeña in 2007 by Andrew Gotianun Jr., Filinvest Land Inc. vice president, who consults her for his land ventures.
Mayor Osmeña hired Legaspi again to find water sources especially since rivers and springs have dried up in the uplands due to a drought brought on by the El Niño phenomenon.
Her usual rate is P10,000 per day but Legaspi said she has yet to discuss her professional fee with city officials, who plan to tap her as consultant.
?I can really see the water flowing... I am doing this for public service to help the people,? Legaspi told CDN.
The woman, accompanied by her daughter, walks about at a normal gait, glancing down at the ground. During her treks, a team from City Hall's Geographic Information System jots down the exact coordinates of sites she pinpoints. They use a survey grid Global Positioning System (GPS) to record the locations.
Legaspi will visit barangays Bonbon, Babag, Sapangdaku, and Toong which have reported low water supply.
DOWSING
Water divination is also called dowsing.
Encyclopedia Britannica defines this as an ?occult practice used for finding water, minerals, or other hidden substances.?
Scientists look with skepticism at this paranormal phenomenon, where certain persons can ?sense? the presence of water underground, usually using a Y-shaped piece of wood called a dowser or divining rod grasped in his or her hands.
(However, in the case of Legaspi, she uses no instruments or devices).
Dowsing was first practiced in Europe during the Middle Ages to find water, but is currently used to locate precious metals in some business enterprises.
Divination is from the Latin word divinare "to foresee, to be inspired by a god".
In barangay Sudlon I, resident Elsa Ebonalo said she had to fetch water two kilometers away from home. When the water pressure is too low, it takes an hour to fill one drum, she said.
?Puerting hinaya na sa tubig dire oy (The flow of water is very slow),? Ebonalo said.
She said she was happy when Legaspi identified a spring about 200 meters from her house.
Legaspi said that if contractors just drill where she she poinpoints, there would be no problem with water supply.
Legaspi said most springs in barangays Pit-os, Bacayan, Binaliw, Paril, Sudlon 1 and Sudlon 2, had more than enough supply of water.
The Cebu city government has set aside P15 million in its Supplemental Budget 3 to set up artesian wells in 54 sites identified in the mountain barangays.
?The mayor saw the need to increase the water supply in the mountain barangays. Most of our mountain barangays are not covered by the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) and residents are dependent on artesian wells and springs but most of these, even the rivers, have dried up,? said Dionesio Gualiza, Department of Public Services (DPS) head.
?The implementation of this project is urgent because of El Niño.?
The DPS will prepare the Program of Works and Estimates (POWE) of sites identified by Legaspi to know how much the city will need to set up all of them.
Cebu City Administrator Francisco Fernandez cnfirmed that Legaspi would be hired as a consultant. She has 63 years experience in water dowsing and commands a P10,000 per day professional fee, he said, but arrangements with City Hall still have to be discussed.
MCWD can be commissioned to drill after the election due to the infrastrcuture ban on projects during the campaign period.
?We might be contracting MCWD to do it because they have all the necessary equipment,? Fernandez said.
Legaspi said she discovered her gift of dowsing when she was 17. Since then, friends have asked her to gell their fortunes.
Aside from locating ground water sources, she said she could also detect buried treasure and interpret the fate of individuals.
