I remember asking some Filipinos about its lack of grass and the preference to use stones in the yards and they explained that it's less maintenance of water and time

Yes, that is so true. It gets muddy too when it rains when the soil is not covered with grass.

Good thing though Argao has a better water supply than Moalboal. There's more rain there too. In Moalboal, as you've seen, it's a different story. :)

It's just that during the typhoon when the roads were all down due to fallen trees, road obstructions, and the absence of electricity for 4 months, the water stations couldn't deliver water to their area and there was a lot of demand at that time so they resorted to drinking the water from the tanks probably cleaned further by boiling them first.

I'm glad you're revisiting Jamaica after being away for so many years. Looking forward to reading about your experiences rediscovering it.