The government of the Philippines is planning to invest heavily to address water scarcity in remote areas of Mindanao, the archipelago’s second largest island.

The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and the national Department of the Interior and Local Government will devote $500 million to the Mindanao Rural Water Supply project, an initiative aimed at establishing solar-powered water supply and desalination in all the “barangays” – administrative districts – of Mindanao, including the island provinces of Sulu and Palawan.

“Soon, each barangay in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan will have clean water for drinking and irrigation,” said MinDA secretary Emmanuel Piñol, according to the government press service.

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