Is this their way of saying sorry?
Manila Water will be waiving the minimum charge for customers affected by the controversial water interruptions that started earlier this month, the water provider said in a press conference earlier today.
“We deeply understand the profound frustration that our customers have expressed in the past weeks,” Manila Water president and CEO Ferdinand de la Cruz said, according to ABS-CBN News.
He then said that they will launch a one-time bill waiver scheme that will be reflected in the bill their customers will receive in April.
The scheme will waive the minimum charge usually required from each customer, which amounts to 10 cubic meters of water. This is equivalent to PHP76 (US$1.45) — PHP656 (US$12.51), depending on whether the water was for domestic or industrial use.
“All Manila Water customers will receive a bill waiver of the minimum charge in their April bill which whether you have water or not, we are waiving that,” de la Cruz said, according to The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Those who were severely affected by the water interruptions won’t have to pay for their March water consumption at all. This includes customers who did not have water for 24 hours for more than a week.
This announcement comes just a day after Manila Water customers, led by leftist organizations, filed a petition asking the government agency Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to penalize Manila Water and require it to waive their fees.
However, MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco said that the bill waiver was voluntary on the part of Manila Water, calling it a “self-imposed penalty,” Rappler reported.
The MWSS had said that they did not have the authority to fine or penalize Manila Water but senators called them out on this in a hearing and said that they actually can.
Waiving the minimum charge will reportedly cost Manila Water PHP150 million (US$2.9 million).
About 1.2 million customers on the eastern part of Metro Manila and Rizal province have been experiencing water interruptions since the start of the month. The interruptions that would last for hours in a day were established by Manila Water to ration its supply until the summer season ends.
The MWSS had said that the water shortage was due to high demand brought by an increase in population but Manila Water blamed it on the drought caused by this season’s El Niño. However, those in the western part of the metro serviced by Maynilad were not affected at all.
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