I HAVE heard complaints from water customers in Metro Manila that their water service gets cut off right away, if they could not pay their water bills on time. No grace periods. No appeals. No nothing.
Well, that may be understandable because water companies are private businesses that are answerable to their stockholders. But is there something that could still be done to remedy this problem?
In another article, I wrote about the success of a water coop in Mindanao. That success proves beyond doubt that water coops could work, and if they could work in Mindanao, they could work in Metro Manila, but with some modifications.
In Mindanao, the water coops were either competing with the water districts, or they were selling to the water districts. That could not happen in Metro Manila. What could happen in Metro Manila is for the water coops to become the distributors of the two water concessionaires. Give the water coops a reasonable margin, and let them sell to their own members.
This is where being humane could come in. Since the coop management would certainly know their own members, they would probably know their own personal circumstances and therefore could be more lenient to them.
Water is life, and people need water to survive. Although it is a commercial product, it should not be treated like any other product within the commerce of man. We should find creative ways to make it available to all.
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LET’S SUPPORT WATER COOPERATIVES
I have been idea of organizing water cooperatives, and I am glad to know that there are some good developments in that sector already.
Originally, I was advocating the establishment of primary coops, but what emerged fairly recently is a secondary coop. To me, that is good enough, and that might even be better, because the capital requirement for water projects is really very high.
A primary coop is the first level type that is established directly by individuals who are the incorporators. A secondary coop is the second level type that is directly by existing primary coops.
That is what happened in Cagayan de Oro, where a group of 13 coops banded together to form the Mindanao Cooperatives Water Service Federation (MCWS). Their purpose was to bring potable water to areas that are not being served by the Cagayan De Oro Water District (COWD).
It turned out to be a good idea, because soon after, MCWS won contracts to supply water to the cities of Cotabato and Bislig, also in Mindanao.
I am not really sure whether the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) had something to do with these developments, but it does have jurisdiction over primary and secondary coops.
Hopefully, the CDA could harness its developmental role so that it could promote and support water cooperatives in the same way that the National Electrification Administration is promoting and supporting electric cooperatives.
Even in Metro Manila, water coops could work, in effect distributing for Manila Water and Maynilad./PN
