Govt lawyers to present new contracts to water firms
Credit to Author: Catherine S. Valente, TMT| Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2020 16:21:03 +0000
President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he had given the go signal to present new contracts to Metro Manila’s two water concessionaires.
In his speech during the oath taking of newly appointed government officials in Malacañang, Duterte reiterated his offer to Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. to accept the new water contracts prepared by the government or he would order the takeover of water operations and put “a billionaire” behind bars.
“I have given the go signal to our lawyers to present [them] to the concessionaires. Iyong distributor ng tubig lang (Only the water distributor). But at the end of the day, akala mo sila ‘yung may-ari (they think that they own the water). Parang sila na ang lahat (It is like they own everything),” the President said.
“And so I gave them the choice, not an ultimatum. We do not do that because we do not own government. At sinabi ko sa kanila (And I told them), ‘Sign the new contract[s] because if you don’t, I will nationalize, take over the operations, and I will send you to jail.’ I have two years to do that and I can do it,” he added.
Duterte’s term ends in 2022.
He also told Maynilad and Manila Water to “pray that nobody will be interested” in the new water deals.
“So tanggapin ninyo ‘yan (Accept it). Pray that nobody will be interested because I will really, if somebody will, if I decide to go after you, I will see to it that a billionaire goes to prison,” the President said.
Should the two water firms refuse the contracts, Duterte also said, he could “prosecute them for plunder or estafa on a large scale.”
“If you sign the contract[s] sans the onerous provisions, but I do not give you a guarantee that no charges will be filed. For all that I can really say about this, I am not the only Filipino who is interested in the prosecution of crimes,” he added.
“As a lawyer, when I looked at the contract, it was full of s*** because there in that document is the exact copy of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices [Act]. Your crime, it could be plunder or it could be a syndicated or estafa on a large scale. In which case, it is non-bailable. If you want to go out? Go ahead. But you will be a fugitive for all time. And I guarantee you, you will never come back as a whole person,” the President said.
The government, through the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General, is still completing the new contracts that will be presented to Maynilad and Manila Water, Malacañang spokesman Salvador Panelo said during a media interview.
The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) earlier revoked the extension of the water companies’ concession deals after Duterte threatened to file “economic sabotage” and economic plunder charges against Maynilad and Manila Water.
The President had claimed that Filipinos were “milked by billions” because of the two firms’ onerous water concession contracts with the government.
Reacting to Duterte’s tirades and threats, both the Pangilinan-led Maynilad and Ayala-owned Manila Water said they would no longer collect P10.8 billion in compensation that a Singapore-based arbitration court had ordered the Philippine government to pay the distributors.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore ordered the Philippine government to pay P7.3 billion to Manila Water for its losses.
In 2017, the tribunal also ordered the government to pay Maynilad P3.4 billion for not allowing the company to raise rates.
The 25-year water concession agreements were signed in 1997 during the term of President Fidel Ramos and extended in 2009 by the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo until 2037.
Manila Water and Maynilad are yet to receive the amended copies of their respective concession agreements with the government.
“Not yet. Saw interview of [Justice] Sec[retary] [Menardo] Guevarra that it would take around six months before they can finalize as they need inputs [still] from DoF (Department of Finance),” Manila Water Corporate Strategic Affairs Group head Jeric Sevilla Jr. told The Manila Times in a text message on Wednesday.
“No, we have not yet received a copy,” Maynilad Corporate Communications head Jennifer Rufo also told The Times in another text message.
Also on Wednesday, House Deputy Majority Leader Bernadette Herrera asked Malacañang to publish the new water deals that the government is offering to water concessionaires for full transparency.
“I request Malacañang to publish in full, on its official Facebook pages and possibly in a newspaper of general circulation, the Cabinet-approved proposed new water contracts with the MWSS concessionaires, Manila Water and Maynilad,” Herrera said in a statement.
Herrera, of the Bagong Henerasyon party-list, had been a staunch critic of the “disadvatageous” water deals.
Her group has investigated alleged violations of the water concessionaires.
With a reports from DIVINA NOVA JOY DELA CRUZ AND JORDEENE B. LAGARE