Stuck in the pipelines

In December last year, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) announced all systems go for the construction of the much-needed Kaliwa Dam project. MWSS administrator Leonor Cleofas disclosed having secured all the necessary permits to undertake the P12.2-billion New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project in the Sierra Madre.

At the same time, MWSS chairman Elpidio Vegas cited the equipment is already in place to start the tunnel boring as early as possible. The Kaliwa Dam project is a joint venture of the MWSS and the China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC).

The MWSS announcement was naturally most welcomed by their two concessionaires servicing the potable water needs of residents in Metro Manila and surrounding areas. The two are, namely, the Ayala-owned Manila Water Corp., and the Maynilad Water Services Inc. operated by the Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) of Manny V. Pangilinan.

Speaking for Maynilad, Randy Estrellado and Ronald Padua, chief operating officer and the head of Water Supply Operations, respectively, hailed the breakthrough that the MWSS has achieved to finally set into motion this dam project that has not taken off the ground since its inception five decades ago.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay breakfast news forum last Wednesday, Estrellado and Padua highlighted the importance of the Kaliwa Dam project. The two Maynilad executives pointed out this project will provide the buffer supply of potable water to meet the challenges of the fast growing population in Metro Manila, climate change, and rapid urbanization.

“We badly needed it (Kaliwa dam project)…We needed it yesterday,” Estrellado quipped to stress the obvious.

Quoting the announcements of Cleofas, Estrellado noted with relief that the MWSS have apparently secured the “go ahead,” or the prior and informed consent from the indigenous peoples (IPs) living around the Kaliwa Dam areas. The purported stiff resistance by the affected IPs was among the obstacles that have caused the long delay of this project.

The dam was originally scheduled to be ready for commercial use by 2023. Barring any further delays, the Kaliwa Dam project is designed to bolster raw water supply to meet future potable water supply in Metro Manila that much depend on the Angat Dam in Bulacan and the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City.

However, the MWSS officials might have spoken too soon. While we are having our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum, 300 or so IPs reportedly began Wednesday noon their 9-day walk from Gen. Nakar in Quezon Province. With Malacanang Palace in Manila as the end of their destination on Feb. 23, the IPs reportedly seek audience with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) to ask for a stop of this Kaliwa dam project.

The project actually originated from the administration of PBBM’s namesake father, the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. By twist of fate, it has gone full circle from father to son.

The controversial project was originally proposed in the 1970’s but its review stretched all the way to several administrations until it finally got the go-signal from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in 2014. But it was only during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte that the project got through. Subsequently, however, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) suspended the project following objections raised on the environment impact of the dam that would be built in the protected parts of the Sierra Madre Mountains.

In May, 2019, the left-leaning Makabayan bloc during the 18th Congress filed separate petitions that questioned before the Supreme Court (SC) the constitutionality and legality of the Kaliwa Dam project as well as the Chico River irrigation project, both funded from China loans contracted during the Duterte administration.

On Dec. 7, 2022, the SC, however, ruled the two petitions failed to present compelling arguments that the government’s $211-million loan agreement with Export-Import Bank of China for the Kaliwa Dam project and the $62-million loan with China for the Chico River Pump Irrigation project had violated the Constitution. “(The) loan agreements have sufficiently complied with the applicable procurement laws and conform with the pertinent provisions of the Constitution,” the High Court ruled.

Estrellado vowed the commitments of Maynilad to stay and remain on top and ahead of the challenges that kept their company at the edge in the past. Once the El Niño dry period sets in, the usual shortage in supply of water in Metro Manila will be back again. During the height of acute water supply shortage before the pandemic, ex-President Duterte ordered the MWSS to review and revise the concession contracts of both the Manila Water and Maynilad.

In the end, Maynilad got a 25-year franchise under Republic Act (RA) No. 11600 to establish, operate and maintain a waterworks system and sewerage and sanitation services in the West Zone service area of Metro Manila and the province of Cavite. Ex-Pres. Duterte signed it into law on December 10, 2021.

The Kaliwa Dam is projected to be completed by mid-2026 in the new project implementation schedule to be able to supply water to Metro Manila households and nearby areas by early 2027. Estrellado reiterated the Maynilad will be spending P220 billion from 2023 to 2027 to further improve the quality and reliability of their company’s water and wastewater services. A major component of this investment plan, he cited, is the development of additional water sources like those that will be coming from the Kaliwa Dam project once it is completed and put on stream.

According to the MWSS, the Kaliwa Dam will be able to provide 600 million liters of water per day (MLD) to millions of Filipinos living in the country’s national capital region. That is, if the MWSS will be able to hurdle anew the last-ditch attempts to block the implementation of this new water source.

For so long a time already, the dam project has gotten stuck at the pipelines over and over again.