Manila Water waiving minimum charge in April over supply woes

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Water announced on Tuesday that all of its customers will not be charged the minimum fee in their March billing, according to company president and chief executive officer Ferdinand dela Cruz.

The bill being waived is the minimum charge for the first 10 cubic meters for all customers, which means that accounts consuming more than the minimum would still be charged.  This would be reflected in the April 2019 bill of customers.

In a briefing at the Manila Water office, Dela Cruz said the waiver, which was made in consultation with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Corporate Office (CO) and Regulatory Offices (RO), would cost around P150 million.

He also added that the numbers could possibly go up, with several areas severely affected by the interruptions.

“We deeply understand the profound frustration.  To help in some way, I know we could never fully pay back the inconvenience, and with inputs from MWSS RO, CO, we are announcing a voluntary and one-time pay waiver scheme,” Dela Cruz said.

“All Manila Water customers will receive a bill waiver of the minimum charge in their April bill which whether you have water or not, we are waiving that,” he added.

However, Dela Cruz clarified that residents of severely-affected areas — or households without water for seven days or more, whether successive or not — will be completely excluded from paying the March bill, although they have yet to form a mechanism which would determine the areas.

“Do’n sa hindi severely affected, may babayaran sila […] for the severely affected areas, ang more than seven days na walang tubig, ‘yon ang wala silang babayaran,” he noted. /cbb