War for water

“Mabuti pa kabayo may tubig!” “Tubig na, naging bato pa!” Holding a rally Saturday right at their clubhouse park inside B.F. Homes in Parañaque City, irate homeowners were up in arms and wore white T-shirts emblazoned with the abovecited words written in big, bold red letters. It was a declaration of war of angry homeowners, who for more than two decades now continue to live waterless in their houses in B.F. subdivisions.

The object of their wrath is apparently directed against businessman-sportsman Albert “Bobby” Aguirre who is the known owner of the BF Homes Inc. (BFHI). But when The STAR checked with the Securities and Exchange Commission there was no such company registered under that business name.

But known throughout BF villages, Aguirre owns the big vacant lot in B.F. Southland in Tropical Avenue which he has turned into a grazing land for his horses. He plays polo. This is why there was this allusion that horses are better off with ample supply of water than people living in BF Homes who have to buy and get them from private water tankers around the area.

BF Homes, the country’s largest subdivision, cuts across the cities of Las Piñas, Parañaque and Muntinlupa. There is approximately 12,000 households living in over 72 gated enclaves, each one with their own homeowners’ association and are members under the umbrella of the United B.F. Homeowners Association Inc (UBFHAI).

The water woes of BF residents started way back in 1984 when the water system — owned and operated by the Philippine Waterworks and Construction Corp. (PWCC), a subsidiary of BFHI, failed to pay its P11 million electric bills to Meralco although it collected payment of water bills from its residents. In December 2000, the PWCC applied with the Maynilad Water Services Inc. for a water service connection. But in April 2002, Maynilad was compelled to suspend its two water service connections due to PWCC’s failure to pay water bills amounting to over P5 million.

In 2007, both BFHI and PWPC negotiated with Maynilad for a reconnection of the water services. The negotiations bogged down over three stinking areas. One, the PWCC insists to impose additional tariff on top of Maynilad’s bulk water rate supplied to households. Two, rightfully, Maynilad refuses to use and pay for the dilapidated water system of BFHI. And lastly, the BHI and PWCC are unwilling to forego their rights to supply water inside BF.

While there was a stalemate in their negotiations, BF residents continue to wallow in their waterless living, a dire situation that has caught the attention of the national administration. In January last year, Vice President Noli De Castro, in his capacity as the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Council (HUDCC), intervened to address the acute water crisis of BF residents. Through the Housing Land Use and Regulatory Board, one of the agencies under HUDCC, issued an order recommending that the Metropolitan Water Works and Sewerage System (MWSS) through Maynilad, takes over the operation of the water system in BF Parañaque.

Acting on the recommendations of the HUDCC, President Arroyo issued EO 688 in February 2008 that empowered the MWSS or its concessionaire, upon petition of the homeowners association or the developer, with the consent of the homeowners association, to take over the water system of a private subdivision if its inefficiently runs or produces inadequate supply of water.

So it was a great relief to us when Maynilad finally came in to BF early this year to provide us clean, potable and uninterrupted supply of water. We were among the first 2,000 homeowners who were linked to the newly constructed pipelines that Maynilad installed at BF.

Before these laws could take effect, however, the BFHI managed to secure an injunction from Judge Raul Bautista Villanueva of the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court Branch 255. The TRO stopped the pipe-laying construction activities of Maynilad for the rest of the BF villages.

Our own water supply from Maynilad is now imperiled by this controversial injunction. So we joined the several thousands out of the 72,000 residents of BF who marched Saturday to denounce this injustice being done to us in withholding the precious supply of water to our homes. We were glad to see the presence of no less than the Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. and Rep. Roilo Golez representing the BF residents in his second district of Parañaque City.

Mayor Bernabe, who underwent a successful quadruple heart bypass less than a month ago, came to the protest rally in support of the legitimate demands of his constituents. The 62-year old mayor looks none the worse after such a major surgery as he showed to us the stitches in his chest still looking like fresh wounds. But he’s in top form for his reelection bid.

Armed with City Resolution 08-054 that authorized him to use police power and general welfare clause to address this water problem in BF, he vowed to invoke this to neutralize the court injunction. Since provision of water is a basic public service, Mayor Bernabe cited the city government could do the street diggings for the water pipe-laying if Maynilad will ask for it. Or, he said, the city government will find out if the private roads owned by the Aguirres are paying real estate taxes. If not, he warned, the city government will institute auction proceedings against it. The third option, he said, is for the city government to expropriate Aguirre’s PWC0C because it is imbued with public interest as a public utility.

For his part, Golez who also lives in BF, urged the rallyists to abide by the court ruling and follow due process. However, Golez explained this does not stop BF folks to institute an administrative complaint against the judge who issued the injunction for ignorance of the law. Golez earlier filed House Resolution 1078 that condemned BFHI stopping the pipe-laying works of Maynilad.

But where is Rep. Eduardo Zialcita? While BF does not fall under his jurisdiction in the first congressional district, Zialcita is still the representative for the entire Parañaque City. His silence on this public welfare issue affecting Parañaque folks will not be good for his rumored mayoralty bid in the coming May 2010 elections. Now that he is on his third and last term, "what legacy would Zialcita leave behind?" BF people asked this while they wage their war for water.