In the most recent tariff review in 2013, many expenses claimed by the concessionaires were deemed imprudent by the MWSS-RO, and not approved. Since privatisation, the parties have been through three international arbitrations.

Image by DFID – UK Department for International Development on Flickr. Today, 18 years after privatisation, the tap water is drinkable and water supply is 24/7 and a few points shy of 100 per cent coverage, with NRW reduced to 11 per cent, and sewerage coverage increased to 15 per cent. Simply put, all the concessionaires’ business-related costs are passed onto the consumers, and the MWSS Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO) monitors and reviews the concessionaires’ performance every five years.

(MWCI), to undertake the waterworks rehabilitation, and the MWSS service area was split into two zones: the West zone and the East zone, with the contract stating that tariffs were set at a level that allowed concessionaires to recover all costs and expenditure, including Philippine business taxes and debt servicing on loans, and to earn a rate of return on these outlays. Two separate 25-year concession agreements (CA) were awarded to Maynilad Water Services, Inc. Cash-strapped and faced with a looming water crisis, the national legislature enacted the National Water Crisis Act of 1995, and the MWSS was privatised. Rehabilitating and expanding the network required billions of dollars and the MWSS was neck-deep in debt, around US$1 billion. The tap water was not always fit for drinking and non-revenue water (NRW) or water loss through leakage, meter inaccuracies and pilferage was at 56 per cent.

Before it privatised the state-owned Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) in 1997 the MWSS was supplying water for an average of 16 hours a day to two-thirds of the 11 million residents of metro Manila and its adjacent provinces. The Philippine Government knew it would cost a lot of money to rehabilitate metro Manila’s aging and decaying water infrastructure. Who should pay for it? In the case of Manila, it is unclear. Water is free but getting it clean, safe and potable costs money. Ally Adigue assesses a murky situation.Īccess to clean water is an international human right, but it comes at a price. Access to clean water is a turbulent issue in the Philippines.

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