BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA and PRINCE GOLEZ, Manila Reporter
ILOILO – Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. has refused to be drawn to the growing clamor to privatize Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD).
He admitted not being an “expert” in the field of water services.
“All that we need is a serious and careful study of what is the best option or alternative in addressing the problem of Metro Iloilo on water,” Defensor stressed.
Defensor is the appointing authority of the MIWD Board of Directors. A lawyer, he wants “experts” to have a say on MIWD’s fate.
But the governor admitted that MIWD’s possible privatization was discussed with Ilonggo Sen. Franklin Drilon and others local leaders last week.
Defensor was instrumental for the resumption of MIWD’s water supply on Monday two days after bulk water supplier Flo Water Resources Iloilo, Inc. stopped delivering to the water district for unpaid bills.
“What is best for the people of Iloilo, I join,” said the governor without categorically stating he was pushing for MIWD’s privatization.
Should privatization be deemed the “ultimate” solution to the water needs of Iloilo City and suburbs, Defensor said, he won’t hesitate to endorse it.
Panay Consumers’ Alliance has warned that privatization could result to increases in the price of water beyond the reach of ordinary consumers.
But former Tourism Secretary Narzalina Lim, an Ilongga from Antique, said water rates can be regulated by a government agency.
She told Panay News yesterday that parameters can be set to protect consumers from unreasonable price increases.
Lim, currently the president of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation, Inc., has added her voice to the calls for MIWD’s privatization.
She warned that Iloilo City’s water problem will hamper efforts to attract investments.
Lim served as Department of Tourism chief under the first Aquino administration and the Ramos administration.
“Lack of water affects residents, visitors and businesses,” Lim told Panay News.
She traced this to MIWD’s “serious governance problems.”
Cong. Jerry Treñas called for MIWD’s privatization to improve the water supply and distribution in Iloilo City and other service areas of the water district. Drilon backed the proposal, too.
Treñas has actually been campaigning for MIWD’s privatization as early as 2010. But the idea never took off. One of the staunchest oppositors to his plan was the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) – Iloilo Chapter.
FDC-Iloilo even launched a petition against MIWD’s privatization and sounded alarm over what it perceived to be an orchestrated plot to make the water district look so incompetent.
In the said petition, FDC-Iloilo said the privatization of the MIWD would “violate (the) people’s fundamental right to water.”
The group cited a United Nations declaration “that access to safe water is a fundamental human need and therefore a basic human right and essential to our right to life…”
It also echoed the UN Human Rights Council position that “governments have (the) obligation to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation under international human rights law.”
With that declaration, “water service must remain in people’s hand and must not be given to private entities or corporations,” FDC-Iloilo stressed.
Lim told Panay News, however, that Iloilo City and suburbs would be better served by a privatized water service similar to Metro Manila.
“Private concessionaires are not prone to politics,” she said./PN
