MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. (Maynilad) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) were expected to sign a new concession agreement on Tuesday (May 18).
This was disclosed by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who headed the Department of Justice (DOJ) panel that reviewed and proposed revisions on the existing concession agreements of the government with Maynilad and the other private concessionaire, Manila Water Company Inc. (MWCI), that were deemed disadvantageous to the government.
“Just a bit of good news. The MWSS and Maynilad Water Services Inc. are ready to sign their revised water concession agreement today [May 18],” Guevarra told reporters.
He explained that the new water deal with Maynilad “contains essentially the same terms” as the signed revised concession agreement between the MWSS and the MWCI.
Like the MWCI, Guevarra said Maynilad will also sign an official waiver of its arbitral award to terminate all related proceedings and a tariff freeze until December 31, 2022.
“The onerous provisions [that is non-interference clause, charging corporate income tax to consumers, etc] have been removed, contingent liabilities of the government have been substantially reduced, and a framework for better service to the public has been put in place,” Guevarra pointed out.
Last March, the MWSS and Manila Water signed a new concession agreement which is expected to pave the way for “better overall service and more reasonable charges to consumers.”
President Duterte pushed for the signing of new water concession agreements with MWCI and MWSS after discovering onerous provisions in the existing contracts, and after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in Singapore directed the Philippine government to pay P7.4 billion to Manila Water and P3.4 billion to Maynilad for the losses they suffered from unenforced water rate hike.
With the signing of new concession agreements with Manila Water and Maynilad, both of which waived their combined P11 billion in awards, Guevarra said : “The arbitral award cannot be enforced by execution or by any judicial process anywhere.”