Metro water rate hike deferred

Water rates in Metro Manila will not be increased until next week.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has put on hold for at least a week any price hike until it has resolved differences with the two water concessionaires, Manila Water Co. (MWC) and Maynilad Waters Services Inc. (MWSI).

MWSS Deputy Administrator Macra Cruz said the regulatory agency was supposed to issue a resolution yesterday allowing an increase in water rates next month but they could not agree with MWC and MWSI on how much should be charged the public.

"We will not be coming out with an advertisement tomorrow," he said. "We still have to undergo further evaluation. We could not finish our discussion today so we reset it for Wednesday."

The law that privatized water distribution in Metro Manila requires a 15-day notice and publication before any hike in water rates can take effect, she added.

Observers said MWC and MWSI could not seem to agree with the MWSS computation which the two water concessionaires see as "far less levels" than what they have been requesting.

MWC is reportedly asking for an increase of P1 per cubic meter.

Earlier, Cruz said the MWSS computations showed MWC and MWSI must only collect a few centavos in additional rates that should not be more than the price of a piece of candy.

"It is not as far low as what MWC wanted but it is definitely much, much lower than MWSI’s," she said. "The increases would not be significant, it is only a few centavos. It would hardly be felt by consumers."

Cruz said the MWSS is wary of the possible public outcry over next month’s increase in water rates amid the controversy over the purchased power adjustment in electric bills.

The University of the Philippines School of Economics is helping the MWSS compute the planned increase in water rates, she added.

Also yesterday, 50 activists sneaked into the MWSS compound in Balara, Quezon City and threw plastic sachets filled with dirty water at an MWSI billboard.

"This signals a new wave of protests we are launching against new water rate hikes set for July," said Bagong Alyansang Makabayan spokesman Renato Reyes Jr.

The activists caught security guards by surprise when they pushed their way through a gate leading to the compound just before noon yesterday.

No arrests were made.

Reyes said if the hike pushes through, water rates would rise further to P30 per cubic meter for MWSI and P25 per cubic meter for MWC.

"The only one who will be happy are the Lopezes, Ayalas and their foreign partners because we would be the ones to shoulder their debts," he said.

Meanwhile, the government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed yesterday a P40-million grant to strengthen the operations of MWSS as a regulatory agency.

The grant, which will come from the ADB’s Asian Currency Crisis Support Facility financed by the Japanese Government, will help the MWSS identify fair and transport mechanisms in financial and technical regulation.

The grant agreement will also focus on price adjustments and penalty assessments as well as measuring service performance and devising remedial actions. — With Romel Bagares, Matthew Estabillo