Moratorium on water bills means P1 billion in deferred payments, will hurt water districts' operations

Imposing a moratorium on water bills would hurt the operations of water districts because that would mean P1 billion in deferred payments monthly, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) said Thursday.

LWUA Chief Jeci Lapus made the disclosure when asked of LWUA’s position on the bill proposed by Senator Francis Tolentino seeking to impose a moratorium on all residential utility bills during the duration of a state of calamity.

The bills incurred during the moratorium period should then be payable in three equal monthly installments, without interest, that will be paid after the lifting of the state of calamity.

Lapus said that 60% of water districts in the country are small scale which won’t have enough reserve funding in the event such a moratorium is implemented.

As it is, Lapus said that only 216 of the 530 water districts in the country have already spent all of their required three-month reserve fund amid the moratoriums put in place amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Ginagawa na po namin ito [the moratorium], pero 30 days lang kaya napakadali. Itong pong COVID-19 pandemic, hindi natin alam kung hanggang kailan po iyan. 530 po ang ating water districts, at 60% po riyan ay small water districts servicing less than 3,000 households po. 216 po sa kanila ay wala ng reserve fund and are banking on voluntary payments from the consumers,” Lapus said.

“With this Senate bill, 4.7 million consumers po ang hindi magbabayad. That is tantamount to P1 billion a month po. Kung hindi po sila (4.7 million) magbabayad sa water districts at iyong water districts wala ng reserve fund for three months, magkakaroon ng problema sa operating cost,” Lapus added.

In the long run, Lapus said the LWUA could also suffer since it is also dependent on the payment of interest loans of the water districts.

“Kung hindi sila magbabayad, kami ang [last] domino [to fall]. Last touch kami,” Lapus said.

Having said that, Lapus added that the LWUA would welcome Tolentino’s proposal provided that the LWUA and water districts would be assisted by the national government.

“After po ng pandemic, mga three months po bago makarecover. At hindi po natin alam ilang ang magsu-survive na water districts. Kaya for our survival po sana, sana mailagay po IRR [ng batas na ito] ang support sa amin ng national government,” Lapus added.

IRR means implementing rules and regulations.

Tolentino, however, clarified that his proposal is not meant to deprive the utility companies of funding for their operational cost.

“We are not pushing for non-payment of bills. Not waiver, not default, not abandonment of bills. What we are after is only a slight delay in payment of consumers and small industries on their utility bills, electric, water or even telephone bills,” he pointed out.

Tolentino said that utility companies would only have to wait before getting hold of the payments while consumers affected by calamities recover from its effects on their finances.

“Makukuha pa rin naman nila iyan nang buo. Made-delay lang para mapagbigyan ang mga consumer na wala nang pambayad,” he said.

Tolentino also said that various countries have taken similar steps during this pandemic, including the UK, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Lithuania and Pakistan.

“Depending on the type of bill, they may be able to arrange a payment plan, or have schemes in place for people in financial hardship,” Tolentino said. — MDM/BM, GMA News