Guevarra: Reco to revoke MOA to extend water concession period til 2037 adopted
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Thursday the recommendation to revoke the memorandum of agreement (MOA) that “prematurely” extended the period of water concession to 2037 has been adopted by President Rodrigo Duterte and the Cabinet.
Guevarra said that the recommendation was discussed and adopted during the Cabinet meeting last November 6.
It was affirmed during the last Cabinet meeting on December 5.
Guevarra earlier said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) found the extension of the water concession contracts to 2037 to be “irregular” since the extension was granted 12 to 13 years before its original expiration.
In an interview with radio station DZMM on Thursday, Guevarra questioned anew the early extension of the contract.
“Kami ay nagtataka when we came to know that sometime in 2009 in the case of Manila Water, and 2010 in the case of Maynilad, ay nagkaroon na ng letter of undertaking ang Philippine government na i-extend yung period ng concession which was supposed to expire in 2022,” Guevarra said.
(We are baffled when we came to that sometime in 2009 in the case of Manila Water, and 2010 in the case of Maynilad, there was a letter of undertaking of the Philippine government extending the period of concession which was supposed to expire in 2022.)
The concession agreement took effect in 1997 and covers a 25-year period, which ends in 2022. The MOA extended the concession agreement for another 15 years, which is 2037.
Guevarra argued that the concession agreement includes a provision about the renewal of the contract at the time of expiration of the original period, but not before the expiration date.
“Twelve or 13 years prior to expiration date ay nag extend na ng period of concession without changing any grounds or conditions of the original contract,” he added.
(The period of concession was extended 12 to 13 years prior to the expiration date without changing any grounds or conditions of the original contract.)
Challenging the arbitration decision abroad
Guevarra said the Philippine government is also eyeing the possibility of challenging the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore ordering the government to pay Manila Water Co. P7.4 billion.
The justice secretary said among the remedies discussed during the Cabinet meeting involves the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) challenging the decision of the arbitration court before the Singapore High Court.
“The OSG is contemplating of judicial actions in Singapore itself, sa Singapore High Court… ‘yung mga grounds na gagamitin ng OSG doon hindi ko muna pupwedeng sabihin ngayon,” Guevarra said.
(The OSG is contemplating of judicial actions in Singapore itself, in the Singapore High Court. I cannot divulge yet the grounds that will be used by the OSG.)
Guevarra said that the grounds of appealing the ruling of the arbitration court depends on the OSG as the DOJ is not privy to what happened in the arbitration proceedings.
Further, the justice secretary said that if the water concessionaires will be “constrained” to enforce the arbitral ruling here in the country, the government will oppose the move before the proper court.
“Dito sa local enforcement (In terms of local enforcement), that’s a totally different ball game. because we can oppose the enforcement on grounds that it’s contrary to public policy and so on,” Guevarra said.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night then threatened to file a case of economic sabotage against Manila Water as well as Maynilad Water Services.
Manila Water said that they are “more than willing” to work with the Duterte administration to come up with a “workable solution” to address the arbitration decision.
