The Duterte Administration believes in the rule of law and recognizes the importance of honoring contracts––so long as these contracts are legal, aboveboard, and fair to all concerned.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles stressed on Friday that the government was simply fulfilling its mandate to protect the public’s interests in reviewing and renegotiating its contracts with water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad––contracts that had been found to have questionable provisions.
“The government legal team led by the Department of Justice has found numerous onerous provisions, but three stand out as particularly disadvantageous to the public,” said the lawyer.
“One, the deals allow the concessionaires to pass on corporate taxes that have nothing to do with water distribution to consumers. Two, it gives government zero say in rate increases. And three, there are issues involving our sovereignty when we allow conflicts to be resolved via international arbitration.”
Nograles stressed that “the government recognizes that the private sector should be properly compensated for the services they provide; serbisyo ito na dapat bayaran, pero hindi dapat pinagsasamantalahan ang taumbayan.”
“Water service providers are public utilities, and as such are imbued with public interest. Government is duty-bound to protect the interests of consumers––to identify flaws in existing agreements and to ensure that these are remedied moving forward,” explained the former lawmaker.
According to Nograles, “government is being reasonable by going to the negotiating table and providing the water concessionaires with the opportunity to right what is wrong.”
“We are willing to negotiate; but the private sector must understand that the welfare of our people––that is non-negotiable.”
