Members of the House of Representatives have called on President Benigno Aquino III to initiate sterner measures to solve the water crisis in Metro Manila. Specifically, the declaration of a state of calamity that will do absolutely nothing.

Marikina Representative Marcelino Teodoro said “there is already a need for the President to declare a state of calamity to strengthen and empower the government agencies concerned.” Forgetting, however, that strengthening government agencies is something that is done in anticipation of crises, not when you’re in the middle of one.

“(An) action plan towards mitigating effects of climate change should already be put in play as we are clearly experiencing the effects of global warming,” Compostela Valley Representative Maria Carmen Apsay said, adding nothing to the discussion.