by Ben Cal/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Manila Water on Wednesday said it will abide by the decision of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), which fined the company PHP1.13 billion.
“While we are not the root cause for the inadequacy of the raw water supply coming from Angat Dam which we are mandated to treat and distribute, Manila Water, as agent and contractor of water services of MWSS, hold ourselves accountable for our inability to provide our consumers with the usual uninterrupted water service,” Manila Water President and Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand dela Cruz said in a press statement.
He said their inability to provide 24/7 water supply to some of their consumers is brought about by the insufficient water supply that they get from Angat Dam for the total demand of the East Zone consumers.
“This raw water allocation has remained unchanged at 1,600 MLD since the Concession started in 1997 when the East Zone had a population of only 3 million people,” he said.
He said Manila Water now serves a population of almost 7 million, whose per capita consumption has significantly increased over two decades of economic progress in Metro Manila.
“We cannot source any more from our system losses, which have already been brought down to 12 percent from a high of 63 percent when we inherited the East Zone concession of Metro Manila in 1997,” he said.
“Manila Water has strongly advocated for many years for the development of new water sources beyond Angat Dam, both to ensure sufficiency of water supply as well as resiliency in case of any calamity around the Angat Dam system. However, the development of new water sources is, under the Concession Agreement, ultimately the responsibility of MWSS,” dela Cruz said.
