MWSS starts yearly audit of Manila Water, Maynilad
Credit to Author: Jordeene B. Lagare| Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2019 16:16:33 +0000
THE MWSS Regulatory Office, the regulatory arm of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), officially commenced on Wednesday the annual audit of financial books of the concessionaires Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc.
In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick Lester Ty said the regulatory financial audit is part of efforts “to more efficiently monitor the water concessionaires’ compliance with the concession agreement and delivery of their service obligations.”
Processes involved in the scrutiny of their financial books include the evaluation of the firms’ historical (actual) cash flows wherein prudency and efficiency of incurred operating expenses and capital expenditures are assessed to determine possible disallowances.
The detailed audit report is expected to be unveiled by the first quarter of 2020, he added.
This would be the first time that the MWSS RO would conduct the regulatory financial audit that is usually done every five years, as stipulated in the concession agreements with Manila Water and Maynilad.
However, the regulator had intended to conduct the audit annually. This would be the first time that the audit will be done every year since its inception in 1997.
Section 13.2 of the agreement states the books and records of the concessionaires can be audited on an interim basis either by the agency or independent auditor, and that both companies are required to provide full support.
The MWSS RO shall be delving into the books and records of Manila Water and Maynilad for the period of July 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018.
Recently, the MWSS RO commissioned Constantino and Partners (CP) to conduct the yearly financial audit.
“CP is an auditing firm accredited by the Philippine Board of Accountancy, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Insurance Commission of the Philippines, and the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue,” Ty said.
He first unveiled the MWSS RO’s plan of inspecting the books of the two concessionaires in March this year. “They have already signaled their cooperation with us, they will cooperate with us in our financial audit.”