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Php20.00
S 5 5ECTIONS
€, 28 PAGE5
& vot.120 N0. 159

THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2019

I o i\

Dutefie als0 threatened to,6re the heads ofthe

slalerun lvlwis and termilate the concessionaires'
,ol,'u,ol Malacanarrg.s.rid on Wednesday.
S Of ln a sldlenenr, Palace sDol(esman s,rlv.rdor
SSlr'un.to said ihe. presidcnr toio rur Koi[.irt'ro
and its two ConCeSSiOnaires, Maynilad Wut"i Serviii:S Inc, ing in.Malacanang on Tuesday night.
'shapeupols[ip6ut,'durins;4g-minutemeet-
___:r_ r^7-1^- r_.\
and Manila \, .
Water Co. Inc., for the water shortage in parts ofc Metro "'il6il;.";,.,J'jiiin'fii,^-,*r,
Manila and Rizal. , x"**nz
\ 4sAot'til€'llstJcu a/rxr pAe6 pu ..->
(x)
 *OUT FROM A1
Shape up
to listen to their eplanation as
why tiere was a rrzrcr shonage as
such would be iust plain excuses.
Ther- sirnph did not do their iob.
All ther care about is ger profir fto m
the uzro oftbe people and ro rheir
sufferaoce as *dL' Ibnelo said.
Th€ Presid€tr rold them they
could have simply anticipatei
such shorag and could have done
somahing about it. They had to
n'ait ibr him to threaten them with
pasonali,v rushing to Manila fiom
Darao to grapple with the crisis
beibre they moved to end it. The
Chia- Executive, bluntly told &em
to $ape up or ship out!,,, he added.
_\t\\ SS officials were told to sub_
mir a itpon before April 7.
ii.Jrcradng further on the meet_
rn-r ahich he described as more of
a 'monologue" by the president,
Pa-ado said: 'ln a stem messape
ddiued rrirhour even on.e loJk
ing ar rbe oficials, rhe obviouslv
ouuaged Presidenr threatened to
foe llle -\$\L\ officials aad termi-
'."t" fre coocessbnaires, contracts.,,
He said ri:e president would
dedde 'riedra beads rrill roll or
rriether the com-m oftie conces_
sionaires rill
be terminared" after
dre subrnission ofthe rporr
'He (Dutme) said the officials
Lrew of the problern leading ro
the stoppage of the flor. of rrater
bui they did not resotve o orernt
it fiom happening, paneL sard_
-\lanila Watet the east zone conces-
sionaire, had been implementing
$ter tnteffuptions in several areas
in -\teho Manila and Rizalto ensure
thar rvater supply would last until
iune or the rainy season.
Another'sermon,
.\l\\'SS officials received another
long sermon from lawmakers
\\'ednesday moming after it was
recealed that the agency was get-
ting abou Pr bijlion in annualiees
from nater concessionaires, partJy
to repal' debts.
to
.
f,.gf*n*i
(hief li,, _y*,,=,":'
tstre'ado testiryaumgttreiiu;.i"rr;;il;:
shortage. pt.!OT$ *y RUy :-.
'perating'ffi(erRandotph
f,{ARTtt\tef,
During the public inquiry of
the House Committee on public
Accounts, panel Chairman Minor_
ity kader Danilo Suarez said the
MWSS budget should come ftom
the General Appropdations Act
(GAA) instead of Maynilad and
Manila Watec which had been pay_
jng ar least P400
million each vear
to the govemment agencl
"Wehave been suggestin! that
MWSS budget should come from
the CAA lhey perform the ir jo b as a
regulatory offlce. The operadons ard
expen d itu res of MWSS is being paid
by the two servic€ concessionaires
So rhe regulator is beingpaid by the
regularce," Suarez said.
-\larnilad Chief Operating Ofi cer
Randolph Estrellado exolained:
1te pav concession fees ro MWSS.
In own undersunding pan of
nry-
that goes ro palment ofdeb$. That
is comprised of cosr of operarions
of MWSS, where their eeenses are
coming ftom. lt's now p400 million
for operations, fiom Malnilad and
Manila Water per annum."
Manila Water Chief Executive
Officer Ferdinand dela Cru2 qave
a different figure and said vilss
receives P5-22 million ficim each of
the water concessionaires annually
v atux
r.e-)
*; ;, *.ffi,."; ;;;,;.J; ;:j::;:;;,",
factoring inflation.
,\4WSS Corporare Office Deputy
Administrator Moro lazo said nart
of the concesionaires, fees goes to
the salaries of over 150 penonnel
ofthe agenry.
- Lalimakers questioned the regr_
latory capa bil ity of the MWSS a m irt
these hefty fees.
"To rhe MWSS Regulatory Of_
6ce I think you have failed in vorrr
regulatory function. We cannot
expect the concessionaires to Dolice
themselves,' said Nuerz Eclia Rep.
Rosanna Vergara.
'Wait for new rates,
MWSS Chief Regulator patrick Ty
reirerated to rhe panel that instead
of administrative fines, thev could
only impose rate rebasing on the
two utilities.
Rate rebasing is a process ofad-
justing water rates every
five years
based on performancg and is a wav
for the govemmem to ensure that
utilities do not acomulate Drofits
and losses. The nern rebasini is set
ir2022-
For Bayan lvluna panyJist Rep.
Carlos Zarate the MWSS shouirl
not wait five yean to charge Ma-
il;ffiil:#
nila Water
Buhay partylist Rep. Iose ,,Lito,,
Atienza said Malnilad and Manila
Water should be rerninded oftheir
obligation of completing its cover_
age of wastewater facilities to ad_
dress the shortage before imposing
hetty seMce
flees on the pubiic.
'ldemand a refund here of all
.
that you have paid for. people are
very angry and I m delivering the
anger of the people in this com_
miftee. .You have failed...and we
cannot tak€ youl 'sonyl, an angy
Atienza noted.
The committee backed proposals
to get water from the (anan River
Bulk Water supply and the Sumag
River diversion project to address
the shortage
"Why are we going to compete
with the prilate sector iust because
we have al offer from the Chinese
that they are willing to lend you
moneyl" Suarez said, referring to
the China-funded Kaliwa Dam in
Quezon Province, to be builr by rhe
govemment starting July.
The Senate Commiftee on public
Services will scrutinize the loan
agreement with China for the con_
struction of the IGliwa Dam, amid
charges that a provision ofthe deal
could effectively allow Beiiing to
take full control of Manila's patri-
monial resources in case ofa default
Sen. Grace Poe. the committee
chairman, said she would await
submissions of the MWSS admin-
isfator who vowed to forward to
senators a copy of the financing
for Kaliwa Darn, which was sealed
when Chinese PresidentXi Jinping
visited the country in November
last year.
"We will look into that so thal it
could be induded in our committee
rcpoft that should serve as a public
record that everybody can scuti-
nize" said Po€, who led an inquity
into the water shortage on Tuesday
New tunnel from
Angat Dam
Manila Water and Maynilad are also
planning to start within the year a
P3.2-billion tunnel to increase the
volume of water that can be con-
veyed ftorn Angat Dam to ensue
suf8cient water supply in the futura
"We have been convinced by
MWSS to include in the common
purpose facility the building of
the other tunnel to augment the
capacity of the conveyance ftom
the Angat to the portal,' Maynilad
President and Chief Executive Of-
ficer Mmoncito Femandez said at
the sidelines of the Water Philip-
pines 2019 Expo and Conference
in Pasay City.
Ftmandez said on Wednesday
that the two companies were finish-
ing the technical plans and detailed
engineering for the project.
The existing water inftastudure
has three tunnels and six aqueducts
that con€y 2,400 million liters per
day (MLD) ofwater allotted by the
Natural Water Resources Board to
the MWSS. This then shared by
Maynilad (2,400 MLD) and Manila
Water (1,600 MLD).
tastweek the MWSS asked Metro
Manila's two water concessionaires
to develop the conveyance tunnel
called Tunnel 5, which will convey
water ftom Angat Dam in Bulacan
' to the laMesa Damin Quezoncity.
The planned tunnelwill comple-
\ +lel\outle' iler.do"
ment Aqueduct 7 being construded
by the agenry which has secured
the National Economic and Devel-
opment Authority's approral and
undergone a feasibility study.
- The agency has already finished
two tunnels that could accommo-
date an additional 2,400 MLD.
The proiect cost will be equallY
split between the two water sewice
providen. The construction of the
tunnel will result in savings ofabout
25 to 30 percentbecause ofthe bor-
ing equipment for a separate Foject
"lf we save about P750 million,
then it will translate to savings for
the tariff," Velasco said.
Under the concession agree-
ment signed by the'MWSS with
Manila Water and Mapilad, the
two entities can iec0ver the costs
incuned for irnpioving water sup-
ply and services through the rate
rebaiing process, wherein water
tariff is adjusted every five years.
Ty said, ho*e\,'€t that it would be
rislcy for both enrities to undertake
th€ pioject because the agency does
not preapprove pro jec{s.
"lt was not induded in the busi-
nes plaa. Tha{s why it was not in-
dudedinthe rate rebasing last time.
So i{s not yet priced in," Ty said.
"That's why they are being
asked to do it. They will pay for it.
That's why [MWSS Adminisrrator
Velasco] asked me to be reasonable
because it would be risky.on their
part. The pro,ect may be disal-
lowed," he added.
But Fernandez said they could
recoup the cost in the ffth rate
rebasing in 2022, adding that
concessionaires only implement
proiects approved by the MWSS
RegulatoryOffice. '
Femandez also noted that Mayni-
Iad has yet to collecr P81 billion
Iiom customen in the west zone
since the concession agreement
commenced in 1997.
Femandez said Maynilad would
r€view its business plan and ac-
celerate some of its shon-term and
long-term plans to eventually lessen
its dependence on Angat Dam.
WITH JORDEENE B. LAGARE
AND JAVIER JOE ISMAEL