Duterte names retired Army general MWSS chairman

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed retired General Ricardo Morales as chairman of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.

Duterte announced Morales' appointment on Thursday night in Davao City at the thanksgiving party thrown by Senator-elect Bong Go.

Morales was named MWSS chairman after Metro Manila and Rizal suffered a water crisis in March, something that caught the ire of the President.

Morales, who hails from Davao, said he was waiting for appointment papers and would be ready to take on the job Duterte gave him. 

Ready to go

At the height of the water crisis that gripped Metro Manila and Rizal in March, MWSS officials and water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad were called to Malacanang and received "homily" from Duterte.

Some 1.2 million households serviced by the Metro Manila east zone concessionaire Manila Water were then affected by the water interruptions.

Until this month, a number of households in Metro Manila still experience water service interruptions due to the low level of water at La Mesa Dam.

Manila Water had said that the rains being experienced in Metro Manila were not enough to bring the water level back to the regular level of 78 to 79 meters.

"We still need a lot more and continuous days of that much rain for us to refill La Mesa. Secondly, even if we are able to refill La Mesa and we begin to draw water from it again to augment the still-deficient water supply, it is certain that we will encounter water quality issues," Jeric Sevilla, group head for Corporate Strategic Affairs at Manila Water, had said in a statement.

No engineers

Earlier, several senators took the MWSS to task for failing to avert the water interruptions.

Senator Grace Poe had said the bigger liability lies in the MWSS being the regulator.

Poe, who is also affected by the water shortage, said Manila Water has responsibility over it, but that the MWSS has the bigger liability for failing to prevent it from happening when the former already warned about it as early as last year.

“So sa tingin ko hindi nila ginagawa ‘yung trabaho nila. Alam mo ang nakakalungkot dito, malaki ang naging pagkukulang ng Manila Water pero sa tingin ko mas malaki ang pagkukulang ng MWSS,” Poe had said.

She added MWSS failed to have foresight because its board is full of lawyers and does not include any engineers.

“Ang MWSS dapat meron silang inhinyero, e puro abugado sila doon. Imbes na civil engineer na nakalagay doon sa kanilang regulasyon, ang nandoon ay chemical engineer. In short, hindi talaga nila nakita ang problemang ito dahil hindi na nila naiintindihan,” she said.

Poe had said the MWSS should reorganize its board for the inclusion of a civil engineer.—NB/LDF, GMA News