{"id":257161,"date":"2020-06-05T01:34:48","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T05:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=257161"},"modified":"2020-06-05T01:34:48","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T05:34:48","slug":"duterte-okay-with-new-deals-with-water-firms-if-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/05\/duterte-okay-with-new-deals-with-water-firms-if-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Duterte okay with new deals with water firms if \u2018fair\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte updates the nation on the government’s efforts in addressing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on April 6, 2020. ACE MORANDANTE\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he is amenable to the new contracts with private water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water, so long as the new deal is \u201cfair\u201d and would ensure the \u201creturn of the money\u201d to their customers.<\/p>\n

In a taped public address aired on state-run PTV-4 on Friday, Duterte said he would review the fresh contracts with the two water firms that were crafted by the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting tomorrow, I think the papers are with me now, I will review the contracts that are proposed by the government panel to the Ayala and Pangilinan consortium.\u00a0Ako, okay na ako basta mabawi lang ang pera ng tao<\/em>\u00a0even in installments (I\u2019m good, so long as the people\u2019s money is returned, even in installments), but you have to make some amends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Manila Water is a subsidiary of the Ayala Corp., while Pangilinan\u2019s Metro Pacific Investments Corp. owns a controlling stake in Maynilad.<\/p>\n

In December 2019, Duterte warned to file cases against the two water concessionaires for allegedly entering into onerous agreements with the government.<\/p>\n

Duterte\u2019s tiff with Ayala and Pangilinan began after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore, in separate rulings, compelled the Philippines to pay PHP7.39 billion and PHP3.4 billion to Manila Water and Maynilad, respectively, for supposed losses and damages suffered by the two water companies.<\/p>\n

In his latest speech, Duterte admitted that he was initially \u201cadamant\u201d about not being lenient towards the two water firms.<\/p>\n

He, however, said he is now \u201ccalm\u201d since he knows the importance of water in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cNag-kalma ako kasi<\/em>\u00a0(I have to be calm because), whether I like it or not, water is very important in our lives. So okay\u00a0na lang ako pero \u2018yung nawala sa tao, kung ano \u2018yung nawala sa kanila<\/em>\u00a0(So I have to be okay with that, but the money taken from the people), that has to be paid back, whether installments over a period of years,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

The government is currently attempting to strike a new and better deal with Manila Water and Maynilad.<\/p>\n

Ayala and Pangilinan have both expressed readiness to cooperate with the government.<\/p>\n

On January 7, Duterte told Manila Water and Maynilad that they could either accept the new water contracts or face cancellation of their present deals.<\/p>\n

The President said he is willing to make amends with the two water concessionaires, in the event that they accept a \u201cfair\u201d deal with his administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can have your contracts if it is to your liking. If it’s not, then we proceed to another phase, which is really the filing of the cases,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m willing to forget, just give us a contract that is fair and also a fair return of the money of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duterte on May 4 became open to resolving conflicts with Ayala and Pangilinan after the two business owners helped the government respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he is amenable to the new contracts with private water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":251466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257163,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257161\/revisions\/257163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}