Execs behind water agreements face raps
President Rodrigo Duterte has directed the filing of charges against individuals behind the agreement with Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. and has ordered the drafting of new contracts, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
He said the President expressed outrage over the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore, which directed the Philippine government to pay Manila Water billions of pesos for the non-implementation of water rate increases.
“Under the Constitution, all natural resources of the Philippines, including water, belong to — and are owned by — the State. It is indisputable that water is intended for the use, enjoyment, and welfare of the citizens,” Panelo said.
He added that the use and delivery of water was impressed with public interest, hence it was but a privilege and thus must not be abused.
“Our water concessionaires in Metro Manila, Rizal and Cavite, however, have not only abused the arrangement of delivering and distributing the State-owned water to the citizens but have treated the same as a commodity and a money making venture, instead of considering it as a public service,” he added.
He said the agreements with the Manila Water and Maynilad “are contrary to public policy and public interest, being onerous and disadvantageous to the people.”
Panelo said Duterte has directed the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General to draft new agreements that are favorable to the State and the Filipino people.
“The President has also directed the filing of the appropriate criminal, civil and administrative charges against all those involved in the said agreements including the latter’s owners and legal counsels, as well as agents and lawyers of the government for economic sabotage,” he said.
Manila Water said it sought a win-win solution on the international arbitration court’s verdict ordering the Philippine government to pay the Ayala-led utility P7.39 billion.
In a statement on Wednesday, the company said its chairman, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, sought guidance and met with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd before the arbitral award “became public.”
“We informed him that we are willing to come up with a mutually acceptable manner of implementation of the arbitral award considering that this case was filed due to a violation incurred not during this administration,” it said.
It explained that the arbitral award “is for acts in breach of the procedure committed by officials of the previous administration, not the Duterte administration.”