Manila Water open to adjusting rates amid water shortage

Manila Water Company on Tuesday said it is open to implementing adjustments on its customers' water bills following the water shortage that hit some parts of Metro Manila and Rizal province.

In his opening statement before the Senate public services committee, which conducted a hearing on the water shortage, Manila Water president and CEO Ferdinand dela Cruz said he instructed his team to explore ways to provide relief to their customers.

“What I’ve instructed my team is to explore ways to provide some relief to those affected and the easiest there is an adjustment on the water bill,” Dela Cruz said in response to Senator Risa Hontiveros' inquiry regarding a possible rebate.

“We are looking into that considering what has happened and we will update this committee and we will discuss this with our regulator on what is reasonable,” Dela Cruz added.

He said the rate adjustment will be “something outside the penalty system that we have discussed.”

Manila Water, the east zone concessionaire, has been implementing water interruptions in several areas in Metro Manila  and Rizal to ensure that water supply can last until June or the rainy season. Due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, lesser rainfall are expected in the coming months.

Residential areas, schools, and even hospitals have been affected by the water service interruptions.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), meanwhile, attributed Manila Water's shortfall of 150 million liters per day from its allocation of 1,600 MLD from Angat Dam to an increase in population and demand from consumers.

Last Friday, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered regulator MWSS to release 150 days worth of water supply from Angat Dam in Bulacan. —KBK, GMA News