Due to water shortage, Manila Water announces ‘voluntary, one-time bill waiver’

Due to the water issue experienced by thousands of its customers recently, Manila Water on Tuesday, March 26, announced that it will be implementing a “voluntary and one-time bill waiver” scheme.

In a press briefing, Manila Water president and chief executive officer (CEO) Ferdinand Dela Cruz said its customers won’t have to pay the minimum charge, which represents first 10 cubic meters used in a month, for their March consumption. The minimum charge amounts to P76 for lifeline or low-consuming customers and P656 for industrial customers. 

“To help ease in some way the inconvenience we have caused — I know we could never fully pay back the inconvenience we have caused to our customers — and with inputs from both MWSS (Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System) Corporate Office and Regulatory Office, we are announcing a voluntary and one-time bill waiver scheme in March to be reflected in the April bill of our customers,” Dela Cruz said.

Dela Cruz said the minimum charge will be waived for “all” Manila Water customers, but those customers in villages that has absolutely no water service for at least seven continuous or broken days within March 6 to 31 will not have to pay anything in their March bills.

The Manila Water President did not forget to thank all their partners — such as Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
National Water Resources Board (NWRB), and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), among others –who assisted their customers during the water shortage situation.

Dela Cruz also shared developments on their service recovery efforts, saying that as of March 25, the concessionaire’s eight to 12-hour water availability at ground floor level has already reached 97 percent.

“From a high of 61 severely affected barangays, we are now down to eight barangays which are dependent on interim network solutions, static tanks or water tankers,” he said.

“Our supply deficit is down from 150MLD (million liters per day) to 107MLD but there are still small pockets, sitios or streets with intermittent no water situations resulting from operational adjustments and pressure management,” he added.

Manila Water’s move came after Bayan Muna Partylist filed a complaint against the concessionaire on Monday at the MWSS office over the water interruptions experienced by its consumers for weeks.

The group sought for compensation for the losses of the public and urged MWSS to review Manila Water’s recent water rate hike and conduct public hearings in every affected city.

In a statement, Senator Risa Hontiveros lauded Manila Waters voluntary and one-time bill waiver program, but stressed that there is “more that needs to be done in order to prevent this crisis from happening again.”