The President has directed the filing of appropriate criminal, civil and administrative charges against all those involved in the agreements.

Water concessionaires Manila Water Company and Maynilad Water Services Inc. did not only abuse their contracts but also used these for their “money-making ventures.”

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and spokesman Salvador Panelo, in a statement, stressed the Constitution provides all natural resources in the country, including water, belong to and is owned by the State.

“The use and delivery of water is impressed with public interest. Hence, it is but a privilege and therefore must not be abused,” Panelo said.

“Our water concessionaires in Metro Manila, Rizal and Cavite, however, have not only abused the arrangement of delivering and distributing the state-owned water to the citizens, but have treated the same as a commodity and a money-making venture, instead of considering it as a public service,” he added.

On Tuesday night, President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his displeasure over the onerous provisions of the concession agreements awarded to Manila Water and Maynilad by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

Mr. Duterte’s anger was triggered by the results of a review conducted by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on the concession agreements of both the Ayala-led Manila Water and the Manny Pangilinan-owned Maynilad.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra noted a dozen onerous and disadvantageous provisions of the agreements. Most notable were the prohibition against government interference in rate-setting and the provision on indemnity for possible losses in the event of such government interference.

Due to the twin provisions, Guevarra said the government was ordered by a Singapore-based arbitration court to pay Maynilad about P3.6 billion and, recently, Manila Water P7.4 billion as compensation for losses or damages.

The DoJ also found the extension of the contracts up to 2037 as irregular.

Panelo said the President has directed the filing of appropriate criminal, civil and administrative charges against all those involved in the agreements, including owners and legal counsels, as well as agents and lawyers of the government for economic sabotage.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Solicitor General Jose Calida were also tasked to come up with a new water concession contract that is favorable to the public and the government.

“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.

“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,” he said.

Manila Water blamed previous administrations for the violation of its concession deal as it vowed willingness to work with the Duterte administration for a workable solution to the issue.

“The arbitral award issued in our favor is for acts in breach of the procedure committed by officials of the previous administration, not the Duterte administration,” Manila Water said in a statement.

“We wish to reiterate that Manila Water is more than willing and have started to work with the incumbent administration to come up with a workable solution to the arbitration decision,” it added.

The company, however, did not identify the administration responsible for the supposed breaches.

The 25-year agreements were signed in 1997 but were renewed 13 years before the expiration in 2022, based on the findings of the DoJ review.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in Singapore ruled in favor of Manila Water and directed the government to pay the company P7.39 billion for the non-implementation of rate increases.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stocks Exchange last 29 November, Manila Water said the tribunal ordered the payment to represent the company’s losses from 1 June 2015 to 22 November 2019, as well as the amounts paid to the PCA and 85 percent of other claimed costs.

Manila Water stressed that the PCA is an “internationally-recognized inter-governmental organization” and that its concession agreement with the MWSS was bid out on a “take it or leave it” basis.

Maynilad has yet to issue an official statement on the matter as of press time yesterday.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and neophyte Sen. Imee Marcos, in separate statements, said they will support the President’s stance against the water companies.

“After hearing his explanation last night on how we are being taken for a ride by these concessionaires, I told him I’m supporting him 100 percent on the issue,” Sotto said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Marcos explained that her support was also in line with the principle that water supply should not be only treated as a mere commodity but a human right.

“Water is universally recognized as a human right, not merely a commodity. I support PRRD’s desire to assail these onerous contracts that deprive Filipinos of both their right to water as well as impose liabilities [by] Filipino government even when service and supply fails,” she said.