Maynilad, MWSS, at Pagtaas ng Presyo ng Tubig

by RJ Javellana

Para masabing mayroong public consultation ngunit walang dokumentong ipinakita sa publiko. Nais ng Maynilad na sumingil ng dagdag na P11per cubic meter sa MWSS L rate rebassing process 2018-2022. Kasama sa kahilingan ng Maynilad na muling kunin sa publiko ang CORPORATE INCOME TAX. Dapat natin itong tutulan at maharang! Tama na! SOBRA NA ang LUTONG TUBIG.

Water for All Refund Movement (WARM) president and spokesman Rodolfo Javellana Jr., reported that  the Supreme Court (SC) has allowed the Office of the Ombudsman to have access to various documents of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and its executives in connection with plunder raps filed against its officials and those of Maynilad and Manila Water, MWSS concessionaires for the East Zone and the West Zone, respectively,
Last year, WARM petitioned the SC to order a complete refund and accounting of all mothballed projects, including the controversial pass-on of corporate income taxes to water consumers in the East and West zones.

On March 6 this year, the movement and Gloria Dalida filed plunder charges against the officials of MWSS, Maynilad and Manila Water.
Edsel Tupaz, lawyer for WaterWatch Coalition, also a petitioner in the cases against MWSS and its two concessionaires at the High Court, said the documents will show “excessive entanglement and executive bonuses and perks at abominable amounts, including a ‘rate rebasing bonus’ given to MWSS employees for having approved previous water rate hikes sought by the two concessionaires.”

The Ombudsman, he said, can use these documents “to show that over P43 billion have been plundered to date.”
According to Andre de Jesus, lawyer for WARM’s case at the High Court, “the concessionaires’ passing-on of taxes to the consuming public, tax holiday or not, cannot be properly characterized as an ‘expenditure’ that may be passed on by a water company such as Maynilad and Manila Water, companies no doubt impressed with public interest.”
WARM is seeking oral arguments at the SC to properly ventilate the issues.
Maynilad and Manila Water, however, have maintained that they are not “public utilities” regulated by public service laws and by the 12-percent profit cap but are “mere agents” of MWSS.
Recently, lawyer Emmanuel Caparas, MWSS chief regulator, resigned after the Commission on Audit ruled that he was holding conflicting positions, serving as both chief regulator and member of the board of trustees of MWSS.(Manila Times)