LWUA, PNB ink loan scheme for water districts

MANILA, Philippines - The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), the lead government corporation engaged in large scale water supply development projects outside of Metro Manila, formed recently an alliance with the Philippine National Bank (PNB), the country’s fourth biggest banking institution, to fasttrack the provision of fresh drinking water to as many Filipinos in the provinces as possible.

LWUA officials headed by chairman Prospero Pichay Jr. and administrator Daniel Landingin signed over the weekend a memorandum of agreement (MOA) containing the details of the joint water supply development undertaking with the executives of PNB represented by the president and CEO Eugene Acevedo and senior vice president Alfonso Tanseco.

According to Landingin, the coming together of the two corporations will help boost the government’s thrust to improve the water supply situation in the provinces and provide access to safe, affordable and continuous supply of drinking water to a greater number of Filipinos.

LWUA through its duly formed water districts is currently servicing some 20 million people in the provinces, or roughly 22 percent of the country’s total population, Landingin added.

]Under the agreement, PNB and LWUA will provide appropriate credit or loan facilities to eligible and qualified water districts to finance their expansion or developmental projects under terms and conditions to be agreed upon by the parties concerned, Landingin said.

The joint partnership is of paramount significance to LWUA, which ishaving difficulty in meeting all the current investment needs of the water districts given its limited financial resources.

On the other hand, PNB stands to claim its rank as one of the biggest and most stable banking corporations in the country with its multi-million financial exposure in the nationwide water supply infrastructure projects.

More importantly, Landingin emphasized that the LWUA-PNB collaboration is in keeping with President Aquino’s thrust for the government to strengthen ties with the private sector and tap their resources for a mutually beneficial undertaking that will provide the greater advantage to the Filipino people.