(Eagle News) — Manila Water said it would work towards enforcing an award for P7.39 billion it had secured from a Singapore-based tribunal against the Philippine government for losses it had incurred for a water rate hike that the government denied in 2015.
“The Tribunal ordered the Republic to indemnify Manila Water the amount of ₱7,390,000,000 representing the actual losses it suffered from 1 June 2015 until 22 November 2019,” stated the Ayala-owned water concessionaire in a disclosure on Friday, Nov. 29.
“The Tribunal ruled that Manila Water has a right to indemnification for actual losses suffered by it on account of the Republic’s breach of its obligation,” it said.
The international tribunal in Singapore is under the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Manila Water Company said that that the tribunal had also ordered the Philippine government to pay 100 percent of the amount the company had paid to the tribunal, as well as 85 percent of other costs it is claiming.
It was on April 23, 2015 when Manila Water filed a notice of arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) demanding that the Philippine government pay the losses it had incurred amounting to P79 billion from 2015 to 2017 due to lower tariffs.
The case against the Philippine government was brought to the international court after the government regulator, Manila Water Sewerage System (MWSS), rejected the request of Manila Water to raise its water rates for 2013 to 2017, and instead asked the water concessionaire to reduce its basic water charge by P2.77 per cubic meter.
The company cited provisions in its concession agreement with the MWSS way back in 1997 that allegedly allows the utility firm to be indemnified against any loss that could result from the government regulator’s actions.
The ruling came three years after the PCA also ruled in favor of another water concessionaire, Maynilad Water Services Inc., asking the Philippine government to pay P3.4 billion to Maynilad as reimbursement for its losses from March 11, 2015 through August 31, 2016. This was after the Philippine government rejected its request for a water rate hike.
Manila Water said it would coordinate with the concerned government agencies and work “for an orderly and managed satisfaction of the award.”
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), in a statement, said that it is “studying all the remedies available to the Republic in assailing the award.”
Manila Water Company, Inc. is the exclusive provider of water and used water services to over six million people in the Manila Water Concession, particularly the East Zone of Metro Manila and Rizal Province, consisting of 23 cities and municipalities. These include Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Marikina, most parts of Quezon City, San Andres and Sta. Ana in Manila, as well as the following cities and towns in Rizal: Angono, Antipolo, Baras, Binangonan, Cainta, Cardona, Jalajala, Morong, Pililia, Rodriguez, San Mateo, Tanay, Taytay, and Teresa.
President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier criticized provisions of the concession agreement with the water concessionaires entered into during the administration of former President Fidel Ramos.
He ordered the review of the 1997 concession agreements after Maynilad’s victory in October 2018 at the High Court of Singapore over the P3.44-billion compensation it sought from the government for revenue losses as a result of the unimplemented water rate adjustment.
