(We yield this space to the statement of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan – Panay due to its timeliness. – Ed.)
THE MOVE of the local government unit of Iloilo City to revive the proposed privatization of public markets through public-private partnership (PPP) must be opposed. We stand with our vendors to protect their only source of livelihood. We believe that the city government can finance the rehabilitation of our public markets from the taxes being paid by our vendors. Other municipalities in the Province of Iloilo were able to rehabilitate their markets without capitulating to private businesses, thereby protecting and securing the livelihood of our vendors.
PPP is a strategy of the government to abandon its responsibilities for the people and pass it on to private businesses who are not thinking about service but business. In Iloilo City, the Metro Iloilo Water District, a government-owned and controlled corporation, is now being run by private concessionaires and has become a business enterprise instead of being a utility service. Last year, with the entry of a private business, water rates in Metro Iloilo have increased by P42-P70 for every 10 cubic meters of water.
In Manila, due to the privatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the water rate has skyrocketed. Maynilad registered a 357.6 percent increase while Manila Water accounted for a 414.4 percent increase in prices in just 10 years, from August 1997 to January 2007.
Power service is also privatized giving the private company all the rights to dictate electric rates in the absence of public consultations and the experiences of Metro Iloilo residents confirmed the profiteering scheme by the private company through higher electric rates and additional charges like bill and meter deposits. In Metro Manila, Bayan Muna challenged the constitutionality of these bill deposits and won in favor of the consumers.
We call on our vendors to defend their livelihood and call on the government to provide subsidy and take on the rehabilitation of our public markets.
