Agreementstipulatessanctions tT\ he MetroPolitan waterworks

and Sewerage System (MWSS)

customers in Metm Manila and nearby said that the MWSS-Regulatory Office
has been studying possible sanctions td

fails
provinces.

m case concessionaire ' * I is now studying possible penal-

ties against East zone conces-
sionaire Manila Water Company, Inc.
MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick TY
. relealed this Tlresday as the Senate
Committee on Public Services opened its
the east zone water concessionaire in
relation to the terms of agreement. I

Iy stressed this aftei Senate Presi-l

fo meet obligation ry*i&siwxrN. ffd,ryfr$s over the water shortage that aflected its own hearing on the water shortage. He dent Vicente "Tito" Sotto III >101

o
+taruttJ€ l/d'r)s'/
(1)
Penalties for Manila Waten.. <1
questioned his pronouncements at
continues for more than 60 dEiS (or 15 ' : /'The fines I was mentioning is tlle
dal,s in cases where the failure could ad- do it earlier."
the House of Representatives hearing fines, the administrative files that other He added that they have alreadY
versely affect public health or welfare)
on the water issue last Monday. In the regulatory offices are empowered to sent a written notice to the Manila Wa-
after written notice thereof ftom the
House hearing, Iy said that they cannot do," he clarified. ter about the move last March 8.
Regulatory Office the concessionaire
hold Manila Water accountabld due to
0o
shall constitute a basis for the Regula-
" The MWSS, $ said' usuallY imPoses
"We are now FtudYing the amount of
supposed lack of provision allowing finanbial penalties during the manda- the penalff that wi! be imposed, which
tory Office to assess financial peialties
' them to impose penalties for violating tory ral,e rebasing, or the determina- can be r€bal,ed," IY said.
agaihst the concessionaire," tlle conces-
its 24l? service obligation. lion of new water service rates, every Under the same section of the con'
sion agreemeht read in part.
But Sotto cited Article 10, Section flve years. cession agreement, it is stipulated that
Iy, in defbnse, said he only failed to
10.4 of the concession agreementwhich Such a sanction would benefit tlle af- the penalty "shall be egual to 25 percent
articulate himself properly during the fucted consumers in the form ofrebates,
laid out the penalties for water frms of the cosG that, in the reasonable opin-
House inquiry
thal fail to meet their service obliga- bs also stated in Section 10.4, to "temper ion of the Regulatory Offrce' the
"What happened was that I was try- (rate) adjustments," he said. '
tions. Senators Grace Poe, committei: Concessionaire will incur in order
ing to explained to Congress that.I do
chair, and Risa Hontiveros also raised But the MWSS chief regulator as- to meet the service obligation in ques-
not have the power to impose frnes, I
eyebrows over T!'s statements. surbd that ihey will not wait for the five- tion. But "if the Concessionaire does
cannot irnpose fines and ifyou check the
'A failure by the concessionaire year period since "there is noprovision not meet sucii service obligation within
la\tr, therds no penal provision for me to
to m'eet any sen/ice obligatiori which that prohibits tjle Regulatory Office to 180 alays, the penalty shall be equal to
AJFXT PAQ€
impose fnes," Iy told senators.
50 percent of such cost." pu. ->

IY, howeve4 refused to categorira[y
confim if the MWSS will inrleed penal-
ize Manila \ryater, stressing that they
have to "observe due process." Pre-
empting tlis may be used against the
governmeirt should Manila Water frte
arbitration charges, he explained.
He said they e;pect to come up with
a decisidn by June or July as the agency
also opted to work on addressing the
water crisis first.
PCCI seeks accountability
But the Philippine Chamber of.
Commerce and Industry GCCD, one of
thb country's biggest business groups,
called for rnore accountability on the
partof Manila Water for its failu€ to
prevent and subsequently manage a
water shortage that has affected not
just people's.lives but has also impacted
businesses ald the ecbnoiny
"This water shortage has caused
more than just inconvenience aird
stress to Filipinos. Apart from disrupt-
ing our daily way of life, it has also
affected productiirity as many people
eould not go to worh school, or manage
their business. Many businesses had to
shut down or limit operations. Services
were also disrupted. The economic im-
pact of this shortage cannot be swept
under the rug," said the PCCI, which is
led by A.legria Bing Limjoco.
o
"We sincerely hope that there willbe
some form of reckoning for this issue.
' It's too important and critical 0o our
people's well-being and our economy
Moving forward, government has to
make sur,e that there will be policies
. in place to first, prbvent this from hap-
pening again, and second, to identifu
penalties for those responsible,". said
Limi)co in a statement.
"We believe that a true socially re-
sponsible company with high corporate
governance standaids will be sincere in
, their efrorts to rectily the situation and
will not skirt or avoid responsibility,"
she added.
The PCCI lauded the Duterte ad-
ministration for its quick directive to
make water from the Angat Dam avail-
able to all affected areasj The group
said the brder was timely and once
again showed that President Duterte
has the welfare and well-being of ordi-
nary Fllipinos in mind every day
Limjoco said that sales and produc-
tivity of businesses have been'affected
by the water rationing in the past few
days.
"Fortunatebl the President stepped
in just in time," she said.
"we are just lucky because;our
president resolves the issue before the
damage it caused become irreversible,"
said PCCI Chairman Emeritus Ftancis
Chua.
flu^ouU, Neaos'l
(€)
Manila water ,resident and Chlef
Executive Officer Ferdinand Dela
.
Cruz said the flrn will comply with the
MWSS' processes.
Asked by Ilontiveros if Manila
water is willing to $ant a refund to its
customers, Dela Cruz said they are still
exploring the matler'
' "WhatI've instructed my team is to
explore ways to proiide some r€lief to
those affected and the easiest there is
an adiustment on the water bill. We are
looking into that considering what has
happened and we rvill updatd this com-
miitee ano we witt rliscuis this witlir our
nlgulator on what is reasonable. This is
something that is outside the penalty
system that we have .digcUssed," he
said.
During the Senate hearing, Dela
Cruz admitted the concessionaire's
failure to'follow its z4l? service obliga-
tion to the public.
. Like in the House inquiry he also
apologiz-eal and owned up the crisis suf- '
fered by East Zone residents.
No price increase
in bottled nater
. Amid ttre water supply shortage that
affected tlousands of households in the
east zone goncession, the Deparhnent
of tade and Industry (DTD said there
is no increase in prices of bottled water
and supply is stable
Bottled water is among the prtducts
listed by the DTI as basic necessities
andprime commodities GNPCS) which
are subject to suggesled retail prices
(SRPS).
DTI UndersecretarY for Consumer
Protection Group (CPG) Ruth B'.
Castelo made the assessment of a
stable price and supply situation for
bottled water after holding a dialogue
Association of the Philippines (BIAP) to
discuss the priees and supply of bottled
water amidst the ongoing water short-
age situatioD in the country.
Castelo also reported receiving
numerous repbrts that some retailers
took advantage of the water shortage
srtultron
ly9v9ryricil€ trl Saitlq.!"l
and.dipper (thbo). This prompt€d the
agency to include these products in
their regular prices and supply monitor-
ing and enforcement activities to make
sure that prices remain stable and that
consumers are not uirnecessarily disad-
vanlaged. (With a report hom Bernie
Cahiles Maghlat)