BF residents to Aguilar: Use police powers to get us water

MANILA, Philippines – Residents of BF Homes in Las Piñas are asking Mayor Vergel “Nene” Aguilar to use his police powers to facilitate the entry of Maynilad Water Services, Inc. into their residential enclaves.

In a letter to Aguilar sent Tuesday, leaders of the different homeowners associations in the Las Piñas portion of BF homes told the mayor that “under the prevailing circumstances, the only way for us to finally have water supply in our homes is through your lawful exercise of police powers available to you.”

BF Homes, Inc., the subdivision developer, has long resisted the entry of Maynilad in spite of its inability to provide water to the residents for the past two decades.

In their letter, the association president said “it is both unconscionable and deplorable that we, the residents of Las Piñas, remain in the dark as to the prospects of immediate water connection, which our neighbors in the Parañaque and Muntinlupa side of our subdivision are already getting.”

In the past months, Maynilad has installed water pipes in the Parañaque and Muntinlupa portions of BF Homes in spite of strong resistance from BFHI. Local officials of these two cities had to invoke their police powers.

The Las Piñas residents told Aguilar they expect BFHI to “use all means to block the entry of Maynilad,” similar to what it did in Parañaque and Muntinlupa. BFHI succeeded in delaying the installation of water pipes in the subdivision by securing a temporary restraining order from a Las Piñas court. The TRO was lifted a few weeks ago, paving the way for the resumption of diggings in the village.

The residents also said in their letter to Aguilar that they were opposed to a proposal – purportedly coming from BFHI – to have them pay an additional P10 per cubic meter of water consumption in exchange for “right-of-way” that the latter would give to Maynilad.

“We strongly oppose any effort by BF Homes, Inc. to exploit the matter for financial gain at our expense… after failing for many years to fulfill its obligation to provide us with such basic service,” the letter read.

The residents said BFHI “doesn’t deserve and has no right” to the expected P60 million windfall for the first four years alone, if ever the deal is made for the P10 per cubic meter add-on. Maynilad has yet to comment on the proposal.

“We respectfully submit that the key to Maynilad’s entry into BF Las Piñas is now in your hands,” said the officers, who represent the more than 4,000 households in the Las Piñas portion of BF.