President Rodrigo Duterte orders the filing of economic sabotage cases against Manila Water and Maynilad's owners. (PCOO)

The onerous water concession agreements between the government and water concessionaires Manila Water Co. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. are “bleeding our country dry,” Malacañang said on Wednesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the remark after President Rodrigo Duterte slammed the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore directing the Philippine government to pay the two water concessionaires billions of pesos for the non-implementation of water rate increases implemented during the administration of President Fidel Ramos (1992 to 1998).

“It is apparent that some members of the government have not only looked the other way but have in fact purposely guided the hands of those who have raped our economy for their own personal aggrandizement,” Panelo said in a statement.

“Worse, they are hell-bent on bleeding our country dry. The proper delivery of basic services has not been fostered but thwarted to the outrageous detriment of the Filipinos,.

Manila Water is a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation while businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investments Corporation owns a controlling stake in Maynilad.

The two private companies distribute water in Metro Manila and other parts of the country under agreements signed with state regulator Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) in 1997.

In a speech on Tuesday night, Duterte lashed out at the water concessionaires after a review conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) showed the water contracts were “onerous and disadvantageous to the people, relative the terms or periods, government non-interference, as well as concessionaire indemnification for losses.”

Due to the two provisions, the government was ordered by the Singapore arbitration court to pay Maynilad about P3.6 billion and recently, P7.4 billion to Manila Water as compensation for losses and damages, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.

Guevarra said another onerous provision is the extension of these contracts to 2037 considering that the extension was granted 12 to 13 years before the original expiration of the 25-year concession agreements in 2022.

Duterte directed the DOJ and Office of the Solicitor General to draft a new water concession contract that is “favorable to the State and the Filipino people.”

He also directed that economic sabotage cases be filed against all involved in the agreements, including the concessionaire owners and legal counsels, and agents and lawyers of the government.

The President also said he is “ready to go down” for his decision but would drag with him the “oligarchs” who treated water as a “commodity” and not a natural resource.

“And we will expose them. And I will insist that they be tried for economic sabotage,” Duterte said.

Panelo said the water concessionaires not only “abused” the arrangement of delivering state-owned water to the citizens but have treated it as “a money-making venture.”

“Under the Constitution, all natural resources of the Philippines, including water, belong to — and are owned by — the State. It is indisputable that water is intended for the use, enjoyment, and welfare of the citizens,” Panelo said.

Panelo assured that the Duterte administration will carry out measures to ensure that those involved in the deals are penalized.

“We put everyone on notice that the constitutional command to the President to serve and protect the Filipino people shall be complied with passion and dedication, regardless of whatever power or influential groups are run over,” Panelo said.

“Those who impede or derail the constitutional directive to the President to serve and protect the people shall find themselves behind bars with free food and lodging.” (PNA)