Manila Water launches RP’s first sustainability report

A local company that provides drinking water to over five million customers in Metro Manila recently launched the Philippines’ first ever sustainability report at the Asian Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Expo held at the Westin Philippine Plaza.

Manila Water Co., a water and wastewater services concessionaire under the Ayala Group, launched the report, which uses the internationally-recognized Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) guidelines to measure its impacts on the environment from which it derives its resources and the communities that it comes into contact with.

"Manila Water’s battlecry should aptly be called ‘water for life’ as its corporate social responsibility initiatives are so intertwined and its core business of reducing systems losses, or non-revenue water, and expanding its services to as many customers as possible, especially to the urban poor," observed Education Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz, of keynote speaker at the launch.

Sonny Carpio, president of the League of Corporate Foundations (LCF), organizer of the Asian CSR Expo, cited Manila Water’s managers and engineers for ‘weighing environmental and social issues as part of their decision-making.’

"The report shows that sustainable development issues lie at the heart of what Manila Water does. It clearly doesn’t make business sense for a company in their line of work to separate environmental and social concerns from its mainstream strategic considerations," Carpio said.

Manila Water’s sustainability report is the first of its kind in the Philippines. It benchmarks the company’s performance against international best practices in environmental and social performance, as well as corporate governance.

Among the report’s concerns are those that provide challenges to the company to make a difference in the lives of the people it serves. These include programs to protect the watersheds from which surface water is derived, programs that harness additional water sources to meet the demands of an increasing population, and programs that ensure safety along the water distribution system’s right-of-way.

"The report articulates what we have always instinctively known at Manila Water – that our long term viability as a business is very much dependent on our ability to manage the environment from which we derive our resources, and on our relationships with the communities," said Manila Water president Antonino T. Aquino.

Manila Water’s sustainability report was put together by a team of senior managers who meet regularly to discuss community, labor, financial and environmental challenges that face the company.

"Future issues of the report will focus more on the field of corporate governance," said Jeric Sevilla, Manila Water’s sustainable development manager. "While the company has always upheld transparency and accountability as corporate values, we acknowledge that these still need to be articulated by way of policies and manuals."

Manila Water’s initial public offering (IPO) in the first quarter of 2005 makes the following year an opportune time to focus on the systems and procedures that govern the company and contribute to its transparency as a business entity.

"We hope this report will become a key tool to engage our stakeholders," said Aquino. "Manila Water has much to learn from its customers, employees, and neighbors. A sustainability report which tackles a diverse set of views helps us frame more effective business decisions."

Manila Water supplies drinking water and wastewater services to over five million people in Metro Manila’s east zone: Makati, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, Pateros, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, San Andres and Sta, Ana in Manila, Cainta, Taytay, Montalban, and the Rizal towns of Antipolo, Angono, Binangonan, Baras, and Jala-Jala.