Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 11) – President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed willingness to resolve disputes, although publicly, with Metro Manila water concessionaries Maynilad Company, Inc. and Manila Water Services Inc., which supposedly have “onerous” contracts with the government.
“Sabi ‘ko, mag-areglo tayo. Well, of course, I can. I can talk to you. But it must be in public,” Duterte said in a speech during a gathering of municipal mayors on Tuesday night.
[Translation: I said, let’s settle. Well, of course, I can. I can talk to you. But it must be in public.]
However, he said he cannot assure the utility firms will not be “prosecuted for graft and corruption or plunder” as billions of pesos are allegedly involved.
In his speech, the chief executive again denounced the two concessionaires, which he branded as the “biggest fish” that his administration had caught in its campaign against corruption.
Last year, Duterte ordered the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to revoke the two firms’ contract extensions until 2037. With the cancellation, both concessions will end in 2022 or 25 years since the contracts were awarded in 1997.
But Manny Pangilinan-led Maynilad and Ayala-led Manila Water are now in the middle of negotiations for a new concession agreement with the administration, which officials said may be finalized in the middle of the year.
Duterte is also set to meet Pangilinan “soon,” his former aide Senator Bong Go previously said. But no other details about the meeting were released.
In March last year, Manila Water was forced to implement a bill waiver program covering 1.2 million customers for March last year. It served as “relief to its customers who were affected by massive water service interruptions,” the company has said.
The east zone concessionaire was also penalized by the MWSS board with a ₱1.13-billion fine. Of the amount, ₱600 million has been earmarked for the construction of a new water source.
Last August, the Supreme Court also imposed a ₱921-million fine after Manila Water supposedly failed to put up sewerage systems for its service areas as required by the Philippine Clean Water Act.
An international tribunal had ordered the government to pay Manila Water ₱7.4 billion in losses stemming from rejected water rate hikes in 2015. In a similar case in 2017, the government was directed to reimburse ₱3.4 billion for Maynilad’s losses.
But in December, the two water firms said they will no longer demand payment from the government arising from their arbitral tribunal win, after Duterte threatened to sue them.
CNN Philippines’ Melissa Lopez and Glee Jalea contributed to this report
