Solon seeks regular

budget for MWSS

House Minodty Leader Danilo E. dun ho nanggaling lahat ng gas-
Suarez yesterday batted for a reg- tusin nila,'.' Estrellado said.
ular budget for the Metropolitan He told the panel that they pay
WateMorks and Sewerage Sys- each concessionaire F400 million
tem, citing that the MWSS' opera- yearly.
tional expenses are being paid by Dela Cruz said due to inflation,
.the water concessionaifes, which the concession fees now stand at
he described as "unethical." P522 million for each concession-
Suarez made the pitch during aire.
the touse Committee on Public "So billion na, the public de-
Accounts heariiig yesterday on the serves"1
better services with that
water shortage in some parts of kind of revenue," Suarez said,
Metto Manila and Rizal. During the hearing, Suarez also
"Nbw we had been suggesting sought ihe develop-ment of new
that MWSS' budget should come water sources "to finally end the
from the General Appropriations water crisis," citing the Sumag
Act. They perform their jobs as a River diversion project and Kanan
regular ofn@ of the government " River bulk water supply.
Suarez, chairman of the House ,He said the Kanan River bulk
Committee on Public Accounts, water supply project located
above the Kaliwa Dam is seen as
He said the MWSS'operations a possible replacement for the
and expenditures are being paid Laiban Dam as a water source for
r by lv'laynilad and Manila Water. Metro Manila.
"So the regulator is being paid He noted that Energy World has
by the regulatees. We're not say- presbnted ie project which shall
ing nagkakaroon n9 bias dito sa encompass utilization of hydro
arrangement .na ito. Pero para .power and wind power, while
mawala na 'yung sinasabi natin providing sufficient bulk water to
na maybe MWSS is soft on their Metro Manila, nearby municipali-
stance, dahil^yufrg kanilang nire- ties, and irrigation.
regulate 'yun.ang nagpapasweldo "This project is from the public-
sa kanila," Suarez said. private partneEhip with the eue-
"It is unethical kung sino ang zon province and will entail no
ang nagreregulate sya ang nag- cost to the government,,,he said.
bibigay ng sahod," he said. Suarez said he preferred lo-
Maynilad ihief operating offcer cal private partnerships than the
Randolph Estrellado and Manila China-funded Kaliwa dam.
Wate-r
.presi'.lent and chief execu- "Now. we have a pr:vate sector
tive offcer Ferdinand dela Cruz who is saying we can do the same
confirmed to the Suarez panel with even better servlces and fea-
that they pay yearly concession tures. Hindi gagastos ang goby-
fees. erno, kikih pa ang gobyeino,,, lie
"Nagbabayad ho kami ng con- said.
cession fees sa [4WSS. Sa pag- "Mas mabuti na dito na lang sa
kakaintindi ko ho parte nun pam- pilipinas mangutang, instead of
bayad sa utang at parte is 'yung tapping foreiqn banks,,, he pointed
cost of operations n9 MWSS so out. (Charissa L, Artienza)
. pa-j e'l>