Reacting to a warning from Manila Water that its rates could go up by as much as 780 percent, government regulators said consumers must not be penalized so that the utility can recover the P921-million fine imposed on it by the Supreme Court.
READ: 780% water rate hike looms
“The agency assures the public that the financial penalties imposed on concessionaires by the Supreme Court may not be recovered or passed on to consumers. This is clearly provided for in the concessionaire agreement,” said Patrick Lester Ty, chief regulator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.
He said the MWSS would give priority to protecting the interests of consumers.
Manila Water and Maynilad separately filed motions for reconsideration asking the Supreme Court to revise its verdict to fine them each P921 million for failing to complete their sewerage projects in the five years until 2009.
Manila Water on Friday backed away for its warning, saying it never said it would pass the cost onto consumers.
Rather, the increase was what would be needed to cover the cost of building wastewater facilities to comply with the Clean Water Act.
“We never stated that it will be an impending increase nor did we make any statement about passing [it] on to consumers,” it added.
In its motion, the company warned the Supreme Court that water rates may increase to as much as P26.70 per cubic meter should the Court push through with its plan to impose the penalties.
Despite the assurances, the leftist Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives vowed to seek a congressional inquiry into any plan by the two concessionaires to pass on the fine imposed by the Court.
“They [water concessionaires] were the ones who violated the law yet they have the temerity to pass the fine on to long-suffering consumers. This is too much! This is the height of corporate impunity, insolence, and greed,” said House Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate.
Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza dismissed as “blackmail” the move of Manila Water.
“This is the height of arrogance. Instead of complying with the Supreme Court order, they are now threatening consumers. This is blackmail,” Atienza said in a statement.
Atienza said the water concessionaires for the past 22 years have been charging consumers an environmental fee purportedly to put up sewer lines connecting all households to the wastewater treatment facilities—but this has not happened.
“Water from households and commercial establishments should be directed to these treatment facilities, converting it to a level that can even be of drinking quality. But they have not rendered this service as stipulated in their concession agreement with the government,” Atienza said.
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian pressed the Department of Energy for a rollout plan to achieve 100-percent electrification in the entire country.
“We are just asking data. We are not yet talking about finds,” Gatchalian told Energy officials at budget hearings at the Senate. “What we need is a strategy, a rollout plan, so we can be guided.”
He questioned how the department could ask for P500 million for electrification when it could not produce a plan or strategy.
Data from the National Electrification Authority shows that there are still 1,515,651 unserved households that are still not connected to the power grid, equivalent to 11 percent of households in the entire country.
The majority of these are found in Mindanao (1,075,938), while Luzon and the Visayas share the remaining half (187,443 and 252,270, respectively.)
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi explained that the ₱500 million that the department is asking for would cover outside projects being implemented by electric cooperatives, including in remote areas and island provinces.
Cusi said they have already required all cooperatives to submit their masterplan to energize their respective franchise areas and that they are now in the process of collating all the data.
However, Cusi said the electric cooperatives have yet to submit their reports to the department.
“What we are doing now, Mr. Chairman is, we are collating the masterplan that is made by the respective cooperatives,” he said.
He said the role of all cooperatives in energizing the entire country is crucial because they hold the franchises to their respective areas.
But Gatchalian said the department has the power to require the cooperatives to submit the documents needed on a per household basis to clearly identify the problem areas.
“It is very difficult to allocate a big amount without a strategy. There are areas that do not have any electricity and the coops need to know how they will be able to reach those areas. A strategy and rollout plan are therefore important,” Gatchalian said.