Helping the Water Crisis in the Philippines

In January, at 8AM in New York and at 9PM in Manila, I spoke with Al Parreno, a lawyer, Harvard Kennedy School graduate, and itrek alum.

Our conversation started by Al sharing how deeply inspired he was after attending the Harvard Kennedy School Israel Trek in 2021: “the trip was amazing, and it was my first time in Israel. I’m trying to go back to Israel this year, and hoping to bring my 15 year old daughter.” On the trip, Al says he noticed that Israelis were growing things in the desert, and asked “how the hell are you doing this? They must be doing something good.” He was curious to know more about how Israel was increasing water production and water preservation to make things more efficient. 

In his government job, Al was often hearing about water problems in the Philippines. Manila, he thought, one of the biggest cities in the world, needs to have strategies to improve agriculture, water usage, and to make the city more productive.

For his itrek Microgrant project, Al hosted an event in January 2023 that brought government officials, business people, media representatives, and lawyers together to hear from writer and water activist Seth Siegel, American businessman, activist, and author of the renowned 2015 book Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World. Al’s goal was to highlight Israeli technology working toward solving water problems – and encourage conversation around how to apply these technologies in the Philippines. “Awareness was my #1 objective. How can we share Israeli concepts about water management and irrigation? How can we bring Israeli technology to the Philippines? How can we partner with Israeli companies?”

The event took place at Manila House, a private membership club in the heart of the city. The Chief Regulator for the Metropolitan Waterworks & Sewerage System in the Philippines, Patrick Lester N. Ty, spoke about water conservation challenges in the Philippines, and a possible solution called the “New Water” project, a potable, by-product of user water from households that undergoes a special treatment process. Seth Siegel shared water solutions through the lens of Israeli innovation, most emphatically about the Israeli company N-Drip, a technology that provides precise irrigation, an efficient alternative to flood irrigation. Al shared that event attendees were engaged and asked great questions, and he was pleased that the itrek-sponsored grant allowed him to provide dinner and a copy of Siegel’s book to each attendee. 

The impact of the event was swift and impressive. Following the presentations, one of the biggest agricultural corporations approached Al to discuss a possible partnership with N-Drip, and the National Irrigation Administration (the Philippines government agency responsible for water irrigation distribution) requested a follow-up conversation with Siegel to discuss future collaboration. The top newspaper in the Philippines released an Op-ed on the use of Israeli technology to solve water problems in the Philippines, with the author crediting the event: “Israel, a desert country where water resources are scarce, amazingly produces 20 percent more water than it needs… It’s the reason many call it the start-up nation despite being a tiny nation of 9.6 million… I learned about this at Water Talks, a forum on available best practices in water technology, held at Manila House in Taguig last week.” Another media outlet highlighted Siegel’s emphatic position that “sustainable farming and the conscientious use of water is essential in national development and expansion… ‘Smart people know you can’t plan for water scarcity the day water scarcity crushes you. You need to plan 10 or more years before,’ [Seth] warned.”

Al felt he achieved both goals that itrek Microgrants encourage: the event introduced people to Israel and helped build partnerships with Israeli companies. Because of the potential for partnership between Filipino and Israeli companies, Al feels there is an element of sustainability – developing strong, economic partnerships. 

Al left me with a note of optimism when I concluded our conversation by asking why he felt the event was such a success: “we’re talking about actual solutions – that’s why people were excited to join.”