PH on target in MDG on water, sanitation

Children frolic on a flooded street in Manila. AP FILE PHOTO/BULLIT MARQUEZ

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines is poised to hit its 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on water and sanitation, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

The NSCB said in a report that latest figures related to water and sanitation showed remarkable improvements of the Philippines over the past two decades.

The improvements are expected to continue and to make the Philippines meet the specific MDG, the NSCB said.

MDGs are 2015 goals set by member-countries of the United Nations. The goal on water and sanitation is just one of the several included in the MDGs.

Under the MDG for water and sanitation, the Philippines is supposed to increase the proportion of Filipino families with access to safe water supply from 73 percent in 1990 to 86.5 percent in 2015.

The MDG also states that the proportion of Filipino families with access to sanitary toilet facility should increase from 67.6 percent in 1990 to 83.8 percent by 2015.

Citing latest figures released by the statistical unit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week, the NSCB said that as of 2010, the proportion of Filipinos with access to safe drinking water stood at 84.8 percent.

It said the Philippines was on track to meet, if not surpass, the target on water access set for 2015.