MANILA -- Water concessionaire Maynilad is appealing the financial penalty being imposed on it by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).
In an interview on the sidelines of the Water Forum 2019 on Wednesday in Quezon City, Maynilad president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez said the reason for the water interruption experienced in a barangay in Las Piñas City was "a combination of the algae bloom together with the lowering of Angat water level which reduced our total water allocation."
"It is what we call a force majeure," he said.
Fernancez said they already identified some households that did not have interruptions.
"We have submitted the data to them (MWSS). They should make a decision," he said.
"We acknowledged that they (MWSS) have right (to impose penalty), but they have to be fair," he added.
The MWSS imposed a financial penalty on Maynilad in June after the water concessionaire's customers in parts of Las Piñas City were deprived of water services for more than 15 days in May.
A total of 1,841 connections were affected and will be receiving a PHP2,500 rebate per connection, which will be reflected on their August 2019 bill.
"Our appeal is no rebate but we leave it to their (MWSS) discretion how they will evaluate the data," Fernandez said.
He reiterated that the reason for the water interruption in portions of Brgy. Captain Albert Aguilar (CAA) in Las Piñas City was due to the unusual algae proliferation in Laguna Lake and the low water level in Angat Dam.
Meanwhile, to recognize local government units (LGUs) cooperating with the water concessionaires, the MWSS Regulatory Office (RO) gave awards to top three outstanding barangays in the small, medium, and large categories.
The top three cities in terms of the number of desludged septic tanks were Makati in the top spot, followed by Pasay City and Marikina City.
MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick Ty said the winning LGUs can use the citations to bag awards offered by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), such as the Seal of Good Local Government (SGLG).
Ty also encouraged customers of Maynilad and Manila Water to avail of these services, because the fees for de-sludging are already part of their monthly billing, which means that the water concessionaires could not seek additional fees.
"It’s not free. But it’s already paid for. It’s part of your water bill. So if you don’t avail of it, you’re wasting what you already paid for,” he said. (PNA)
