Didn’t we say that water rates are next?

Months ago, when we wrote that the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), through its National Environmental Action Team (NEAT), was serious about its newfound crusade to help in the campaign to clean up our environment, I strongly believed that it would surely make a big difference in this campaign because more often than not, actions like these need lawyers and the IBP has a stable of them ready just for this. A lot of us believe that the government should be in the forefront in this fight to clean up our environment, but then, what motivates our government to push forward to implement our environmental laws? Well, the IBP isn’t with the government so it can move.

We have said it here many times before that Filipinos are great in making laws... but we are zero in implementing them. This is very true with our most of our laws... not just our environmental laws. Hence, when my good friend Atty. Antonio Oposa rang me up months back, I gave him a big yes to support his cause. Well, the IBP-NEAT’s first success stories came a few months back when it arrested big-time fishing operators whose vessels were caught trawl fishing within 10 kilometers from the shoreline.

Apparently, there were pending arrest warrants for these big-time commercial fishing owners in Cadiz, but no one to serve these warrants. To prove their point, Atty. Oposa, together with the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard, served those warrants over the weekend so these big-time fishing operators got their first taste of a jail cell. Of course, by Monday, these people were freed on bail, but certainly, they finally realized the seriousness or the zeal of the IBP-NEAT to hunt down illegal fishers.

But the IBP-NEAT didn’t stop there. A couple of months ago, the IBP-NEAT called a meeting with local government units (LGUs) to warn them that it is their duty to implement those environmental laws and that the IBP-NEAT is there to assist them in whatever way it can. But as you know, most of the LGUs are not used to the quick action of the IBP, so the IBP-NEAT issued notices to the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Lapu-Lapu that they could face possible lawsuits after 30 days, for allegedly failing to comply with the Solid Waste Management Act, which mandates that open dumpsites be converted into controlled dumpsites by the end of the year.

This move got Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña fuming mad at the IBP, threatening to close the city dumpsite and dumping the garbage in the offices of the IBP. Not to be cowed, the IBP Cebu Chapter asked the National Executive Board of the League of Cities to censure Mayor Osmeña for his unfounded remarks. But the other Metro Cebu cities have agreed to cooperate with the IBP-NEAT on the 30-day compliance.

Call the IBP-NEAT brazen if you wish, but it has agreed to task Mayor Osmeña for the remarks he made against the lawyers’ group. What is really needed here is for everyone to come to his senses. While the IBP-NEAT is giving only 30 days to the LGUs, it is actually open in finding solutions to support the LGUs. I just hope that the IBP-NEAT won’t end up having a legal see-saw with Mayor Osmeña and come up with a joint effort in finding solutions to this mess before things get worse in Cebu City.

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Last week we wrote about the impending power rate increase in Cebu... and warned that when that happens, the next to go up will be the water rates. Well, this week, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) will announce its plans to increase water rates by as much as 15 percent each year for the next two years. Of course, it goes without saying that there will be a public hearing to be called by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) for this increase.

Today, Cebuanos are paying the MCWD P11.97 per cubic meter for 11 to 20 cubic meter consumption per month. Those consuming from 20 to 21 cubic meters pay P14.07 per cubic meter, while those consuming 31 cubic meters and above pay P38.61. I don’t know why the rates are escalating... I can only second-guess that they are what we call socialized rates where the bigger water users are penalized as compared to those using water for residences.

The reason why I said that the MCWD would increase its water rates after the power increases begin is the fact that the MCWD is using electricity in pumping water from the ground into your faucets. Unlike Metro Manila, which has Pantabangan Dam, Cebu has no open water reservoir (though there is the Buhisan Dam, which can no longer supply the entire Cebu City) and the MCWD gets all its water from underground aquifers.

Well, like the power rate increase, Cebuanos will be left with no choice, but to once more bite the bullet. But mind you, water rate increases are not just the problems of Cebu... we are still in dire need of other water sources. But then, the MCWD union opposes any move by their own company to get water from other sources. One of them is the up-and-coming Carmen Water Project by Ayala Corp. Now why is the MCWD union opposing that? I guess the union leaders are running scared that the private sector can supply Cebu’s water needs because when that happens, the clamor for MCWD to privatize might gain momentum and yes, for government employees, privatization is an ugly word. But like it or not, we really have no other choice in this!

As a compromise, the MCWD union insisted that the water company doesn’t need to find other sources of water if it would just fix its systems losses. But even if it can completely eradicate its systems losses, the MCWD still cannot give all the residences in Metro Cebu the water they need, hence it really has no choice but to search for water elsewhere and like it or not, the only thing available right now is water from the town of Carmen, some 54 kilometers north of Cebu City. Thirty years ago, we should have built the Lusaran Dam, but we didn’t have the P1 billion to construct it. Now it’s probably gonna cost upwards of P5 billion and still we’re not building it. So why are the people still coming to Cebu when there’s no longer any water available for them?

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.