Government review panel meeting with Maynilad today

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the government’s review panel meeting for the water concession deal with Maynilad Water Services would proceed as scheduled today.

But Guevarra could not say with certainty if the terms of their new concession deal with Maynilad would be similar with the agreement they recently sealed with Manila Water Company Inc.

“Until we hear the initial comments of Maynilad, we can’t say if we’ll have a concession agreement that is not too different from the concession agreement with Manila Water,” Guevarra added.

However, the justice secretary said there are certain terms in the Manila Water concession arrangement that would also be carried in the new deal that they would be crafting with Maynilad.

“There are certain provisions which, I believe, are non-negotiable. The removal of the non-interference clause, the non-chargeability of corporate income tax to consumers’ water bills, no government guarantees for future debts, Commission on Audit (COA) audit, and a more transparent governance mechanism are some of these,” he said.

Last April 28, Guevarra said they have already sent a copy of their water concession deal with Manila Water to be assessed by the officials of Maynilad.

They are waiting for Maynilad to give its comments on the revised concession agreement between the government and Manila Water that would be used as basis in crafting the new water deal.

“As starting point for discussion, the government panel sent a copy of the revised concession agreement with Manila Water to Maynilad for its consideration. I understand that Maynilad has referred the said concession agreement to its principals and is presently awaiting their comments,” he had said.

The government has been occupied with preparing new water deals considering that the existing 25-year 1997 water contracts with the two water companies would expire next year.

He had given assurance that the new water deals would be beneficial to the public, and would result in better service and more reasonable charges to consumers.

In 2019, President Duterte ordered the DOJ to review the concession agreements with Manila Water and Maynilad after discovering onerous provisions in the existing contracts, and after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore issued a decision stating the Philippine government should pay P7.4 billion to Manila Water and P3.4 billion to Maynilad for the losses they suffered from unenforced water rate hike.

Additional water supply

Meanwhile, Maynilad has commenced the laying of a primary pipeline along Umali Street in Barangay Poblacion, Muntinlupa City, in preparation for the construction of a new water treatment plant that will draw its supply from Laguna de Bay – the company’s third such facility to be built since it began tapping the lake as source in 2010.

The 1,800mm-diameter line will convey water to be produced by the soon-to-rise Poblacion Water Treatment Plant – a P10-billion treatment facility that is part of Maynilad’s medium-term plan to produce additional supply so it can meet the growing water demand and ease overreliance on Angat Dam, currently the only major water supply source for Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Designed to produce 150 million liters per day (MLD) of potable water, Maynilad’s new treatment facility will primarily serve Cavite areas, and also other areas south of the west zone concession. It was originally set for completion by 2022, but quarantine restrictions affecting the mobility of workers have forced Maynilad to push back its target completion date to the latter part of 2023.

“Our Poblacion Water Treatment Plant will produce the additional water supply needed to prevent a supply shortfall while we await completion of the government’s long-term water source projects,” said Ramoncito Fernandez, Maynilad president and CEO.

“This is a project requiring billions of investments, and will take years to complete. We are ready to see it through to full completion. We are in this for the long haul,” he said.

West zone concessionaire Maynilad currently has two treatment facilities in Muntinlupa, producing a combined output of 300 MLD and serving around 1.2 million customers in the southern part of its concession.

Similar to these facilities, the new Poblacion Water Treatment Plant will also be equipped with several treatment technologies that effectively convert water from Laguna de Bay into potable water, including dissolved air flotation, biological activated filtration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and chlorination.