Water facility change lives of Muslims in Southern Philippine town

The residents of the island municipality of Siasi in Sulu have always lived close to the sea.  But now they live even closer to the waters – quite literally – with the construction of a spring-fed potable water system and twenty-one communal tap stands along the stretch of the four contiguous barangays of Siolacan, Bakud, Latung and Duggo.

In a simple ceremony at the Sulu Capitol Building on September 24, 2007, the SiBak-LatuD (contraction for the four villages) Potable Water System was inaugurated and officially turned over by the British Embassy to the Siasi communities. The Sibak-Latud Potable Water System was constructed by the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) program with funding from the British Embassy in the Philippines.

AMORE first entered Siasi in April 2004, and brought light to 240 households in the villages of Ipil, Duhol Tara, North Manta, South Silumpa, Siolacan, Bakud, Latung and Duggo. Three years later, it bought clean, potable water to the villages of Sibak-Latud, giving direct access to safe water to 170 households.