Taps go dry in Parañaque village

Residents of BF Homes Subdivision in Parañaque City now depend on delivery trucks to provide them with water after pumps stopped working and deep wells in the area dried up.

Electricity was cut off to the pumps after the former water distributor in the area — Philippine Waterworks — allegedly failed to pay its bills amounting to P41 million.

Nelson Lacambra, spokesman of Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe, said that for the past six months, more than 10,000 households residents have been relying on deliveries for their water supply.

He noted that the city government has continuously tried to find ways to help affected residents get water from standard distribution sources since each household has to spend at least P180 per tank of water delivered to them.

"The mayor is looking at the possibility of negotiating again with a private company with a water recycling treatment plant to help the residents," Lacambra said.

Meanwhile, sources said some of the trucks delivering water to the affected households are actually owned by members of the United BF Homeowners Association Inc.

UBFHAI president Celso Reyes admitted that some members own the delivery trucks.

"You just can’t stop them because they want to do business, too. However, the association has nothing to do with the water delivery in the subdivision. The water suppliers are private companies," Reyes said.

He said only five out of the 40 water pumps serving as sources of water are working.

Reyes said this situation has been like this for several years now.

"We have long filed a case against Philippine Waterworks to determine the rightful distributor of water in the subdivision. Three months ago, the Housing Land Use and Regulatory Board ruled in our favor, but Philippine Waterworks again filed an appeal, which is why we are still waiting for further developments before we act on the matter," he said. – Rhodina Villanueva