MANILA, Philippines — A unit of Razon-led Manila Water Company Inc. has terminated its bulk water supply contract for the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Manila Water said its subsidiary Cebu Manila Water Development Inc. (CMWD) has terminated its contract for the supply of water to the MCWD effective Dec. 1.
CMWD is a joint investment of Manila Water Consortium Inc. and the Provincial Government of Cebu that was formed in 2012 mainly to develop and operate a bulk water supply system to supply 35 million liters per day of potable water in target areas in the province.
The joint investment company then received the notice of award for the 20-year water purchase agreement on Dec. 13, with the agreement signed on Dec. 18 the same year.
Manila Water Consortium Inc. is a subsidiary of Manila Water Philippine Ventures Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Manila Water.
Sought for comment, officials of Manila Water declined to disclose further details on the termination of the contract.
Last week, Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia announced the termination of the deal between CMWD and MCWD.
She said the terminated contract fixed the water’s selling price at P24.59 per cubic meter until 2035, which is grossly disadvantageous to the province, especially amid inflation, increasing cost of manpower and other costs.
To avoid water supply disruption in parts of Metro Cebu, Garcia said the provincial government signed an interim agreement with CMWD to buy water and sell this to MWCD without any profit.
However, the interim agreement will only be good for 62 days, beginning Dec. 1 to Jan. 31, 2024.
“The province of Cebu comes in and deals directly with MCWD in a government and GOCC (government-owned-and-controlled corporation) interaction and offer to purchase the water from CMWD at the same price and sell it to MCWD at the same price,” the governor had said.
Meanwhile, Manila Water said it has suspended its excavation activities in major thoroughfares in the east zone in preparation for the coming holidays.
This follows the recent memorandum circular issued by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which orders the temporary suspension of road works in major roads in Metro Manila, such as road reblocking, pipe laying and road upgrading activities.
The order was issued as part of efforts to alleviate the congested traffic during the Christmas season.
Despite this, Manila Water said its 24/7 water service would remain and continue responding to their water supply and sanitation needs and concerns, as activities related to the installation of new water service connections and the conduct of emergency leak repairs are exempted in the said memorandum.
Manila Water said it would also continue to support the implementation of government flagship projects that are also exempted from MMDA’s moratorium.
It is undertaking pipe relocation and replacement works along EDSA corner J.P. Rizal Street, Orense in Makati City and in Cubao, Quezon City to give way to the construction of the Department of Transportation’s EDSA Greenways Project Package 1.
Funded by the DOTr and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the EDSA Greenways Project involves the building of five kilometers of covered elevated pedestrian walkways around mass transit stations in Balintawak, Cubao, Guadalupe and Taft, along EDSA, to improve existing walkways for pedestrians and commuters and to enhance accessibility.
The government is accelerating the project, which is slated for completion in 2027.
“These initiatives show our commitment not only to provide the best services to our customers, but also to help the government in speeding up and pursuing worthwhile projects for the benefit of the public, and to contribute to the growth of the economy as well,” ManilaWater corporate communication affairs group director Jeric Sevilla said.