Philippine senators today proved the MWSS wrong after its top official asserted yesterday that it didn’t have the power to penalize its concessionaire, Manila Water.
At a hearing today, Senators Tito Sotto and Grace Poe read portions of the MWSS’ agreement with Manila Water to prove to MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick Ty that his agency can penalize its concessionaire for its failure to provide water to citizens, reported CNN Philippines.
After being read the contract, Ty said that it’s possible for MWSS to order Manila Water to provide a rebate to its 1.2 million customers.
However, Ty was hesitant to declare if the MWSS could impose a fine on Manila Water because the latter might file a case against them, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Yesterday, Ty said at the House of Representatives’ hearing that they couldn’t impose any penalties or fines on Manila Water, despite failing to meet its obligations to its customers. He told congresspersons that their agreement with the water provider doesn’t give them the authority to impose fines or penalties.
Manila Water’s clients have been suffering water interruptions that saw 1.2 million customers including hospitals scrambling to find alternative sources since the beginning of the month. The MWSS said that the water shortage is due to high demand brought by an increase in population.
Manila Water, on the other hand, says its limited supply was caused by the El Niño phenomenon, GMA News reported.
The water crisis became so severe — and baffling — that it even led to speculations that the MWSS was doing it on purpose by closing a “bypass” that could be found in Quezon City’s La Mesa Dam, an accusation that Ty denied.
While residents of the east zone of Metro Manila and Rizal suffer, the west zone, which is serviced by Maynilad, does not have any problems.
For its part, Manila Water’s President Ferdinand Dela Cruz apologized yesterday for his company’s failure to deliver services.
ABS-CBN reported that MWSS officials will meet with Duterte tonight to report on the water crisis, according to Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo.
