MANILA – The water supply shortage plaguing concessionaire Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWCI) and its customers is reviving calls to streamline the country’s water sector.
“We’re hoping that after we resolve this problem, the Department of Water or Water Regulatory Commission will finally be passed and implemented,” Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) chief regulator Patrick Lester Ty said during Friday’s press conference on the water supply situation in Metro Manila and parts of Rizal province.
He said for years, MWSS has been seeking the enactment of a law creating such an agency.
“Several bills have been passed but are still in Congress,” Ty said.
He noted that some factors drive water shortage – the increasing water use of MWCI customers, the design limitations of infrastructure bringing water from Angat Dam to MWCI, and the MWSS’ other concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc.
Ty further attributed the water shortage to MWCI’s inability to deliver its Cardona plant, where raw water from Laguna Lake will be treated before distribution to MWCI customers, and the dip in the reserve of the La Mesa Dam where MWCI has been drawing water to augment its supply.
With the mild El Niño or dry spell, he said it has not rained to refill La Mesa Dam so MWCI’s withdrawal of water caused the reservoir’s reserve to plunge.
Citing MWCI’s concessionaire agreement, however, Ty said MWSS Regulatory Office has no authority to penalize MWCI for the water shortage.
“There’s no provision for that. It’s an unfortunate situation we’re in right now,” he said.
In February 2017, Nueva Ecija representative Estrellita Suansing filed House Bill 4995, seeking to rationalize the management of water resources, sewage and sanitation nationwide by creating a Department of Water Resources and Services.
The bill transfers to the department the mandates of the National Water Resources Board, Local Water Utilities Administration, National Irrigation Administration, Laguna Lake Development Authority, and Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission.
Bohol representative Arthur Yap also filed in August 2016 House Bill 2457 to rationalize the resource management of water, sewage and sanitation by creating the Department of Water, Sewage and Sanitation.
He noted that the country has more than 30 water-related agencies with overlapping functions, resulting in a fragmented and ineffective approach to water management.
A technical working group in the House began to harmonize the two bills in 2017. (With PNA/PN)
