MANILA WATER WAIVES CHARGES; PENATTY FOR SERVICE CUTF UP
By Rio N. Araja
MANILA Water Co. on Tuesday ofered
to waive the bills of customers who
suffered seren or more waterless
days in March. bul the sule reg- d.
ulator said the compan) is not &o
off the hook yet for widespread
service intenuptions in Metro
Manila's east zone.
At a news conference, Fer-
nando dela Cruz, Manila Waler
plesident, apologized again to
their customers for the wide-
sprcad water service interup-
tions and ofered a one-time
reduction in water bills.
"We understand the pro-
found frustration that ow cus-
tome$ have expressed. And
we sincerely apologize for the
widespread inconvenience
that we haye caused all our
custome$ in the east zone
concession area with this unprec-
edented water shortage that began
on March 6, which is beyond the
typical service interruption," he
said.
"Al1 customerswillhavetheirmini-
mum charge waived, while,..custom-
& who experienced a 24
en in barangays which experienced
&
Next poge .
\ wool'r
WATERWAIVER.
Manila Water president Fernando
dela Cruz apologizes during a news
conference Tuesday to the firm's
customers for widespread water
interruption, then offers a c 'te.tif il
voiuntary bill waiver fo. ,
service in lvlarch. Man'
and Sonny Espiritu
:
PAq€'t
Zarate said the Ayalaled Manila Water
Manila Water... should be held accountable for the wa-
Frcm Al ter shofiage in Metro Manila and Rizal
nt?ltli!,
absolutely nd water service for at least ."" of the petitioners against
seven days continuous or broken days Manila Water, said the waiver was not
within March 6 to 3l will not be charged enough.
for their March bills," Dela Cruz said. ' "While the waiving ofthe basic charge
The minimum charge covers l0 cubic ofManila Water is a positive start it does
meters ofwater, aswell as environmental not preclude affected customeF from
and sewer charges. still going to court and ask for further re-
Dela Cruz said lifeline customers dress,'l Zarate said
will benefit the most since thefu mini- Zarate said aside from the bill waiver,
mum charge, which is also their monthly Manila Water should, among others, also
charge, will be bothwaived. compensate the damage they caused the
The waiver will be reflected in their consumers and be ordered to stop collect-
April bills. ' ing the rate increase allowed last year by
De La Cruz assured customeN that the MWSS.
teahnical solutions are being put in place "We will continue to seek accountabil-
to help stabilize th€ water supply distd- ity from Manila Water and MWSS for
bution across the east zone . this catastrophic, greed-induced prob-
'As ofMarch 25, our eigh! to l2-hour lem," Zarate said.
water availability at ground floor level Senator Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile,
has reached 97 percent. From a high of welcomed Manila Water's voluntary bill
6l severely affected bamngays, we are waiver program, saying it was "a big win
now down to eight barangays which are for ordinary paying custome$."
dependent on interim network solutions, "This is certainly a big victory for
static tanks or water tankers," he said. consumels. But we must not stop here.
"Manila Watel remains hard at work There is more that needs to be done in
to bring back 24/7 water service to all order to prevent this crisis from happen-
its customgrs even at reduced pressure. ing again," Hontiveros said.
W€ continuo to work with the MWSS- Also on Tuesday, Velasco denied any
Regulatory Office and Corporatc Office under-the-tabte deals in the Chinese-
in addressing this situation in accordance funded Kaliwa Dam project, which is ex-
with the directive ofour good President," pected to meet Metro Manila's growing
he added. demand for water.
Metropolita.n Waterworks and Sewer- He said speculation was fueled by Glob-
age System Administrator Reynaldo Ve- al Utility Development Corp. chiefexecu- l
lasco;rhowev€r,saidtheyhavey€ttostudy,tiveofficeranddirectorToshikazuNomu-
what penalties they will impose on Manila m's statement that tie China-funded dam
Water, one oftwo private concessionaires. will cost $800 million, way higher than
"There are other penalties under the the government figure of$248 million.
concession agreemront that they will have "We donl know where he got that
to face," Velasco said during apress con- figure," Velasco said in Filipino, With
ference. Marlcel Cruz, Othel Campos and Vito
Bayan Muna P?rty-list Rsp. Carlos Barcelo