Duterte tells lawyers, military not to compromise with water firms

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers a speech during the 60th founding anniversary of Cor Jesu College (CJC) at the CJC Almendras Gym in Digos City, Davao Del Sur on December 30, 2019. SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

DIGOS CITY –– President Duterte told lawyers and trusted military officials never to compromise the government’s stand against the “onerous” contract signed by the two water firms, Maynilad and Manila Water if ever he would no longer be there to bring the fight to the finish.

“Do not compromise, because once you compromise, you begin to negotiate (with them) and they will say, pera-pera lang iyan (it’s just money),” the President said during a speech at the Cor Jesu College here on Tuesday, where he continued his rant against Ayala and Pangilinan.

He warned that it would be through these compromises that corruption comes in.

The President was referring to the water contract the government signed with Manila Water Company, a subsidiary of the Ayala family’s Ayala Corporation, and Maynilad Water Services, where the Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investment Corp. owned the controlling stake.

He said the contract signed in 1997 with the two private concessionaires supplying most of the water needs of Metro Manila was “disadvantageous” to the government and the public.

President Duterte said he was bent on making the water firms accountable for the “onerous” provisions of the contract, but he would not know if his time would be over before he could finish it.

“If I don’t reach the finish line in this issue, you, lawyers, all of you, you read the contract and don’t compromise because if you compromise, they’ll just say alright, let’s negotiate, it’s all about money so they begin to corrupt and begin to negotiate.”

Mr. Duterte, who continued to rant against the water firm before Davao del Sur evacuees displaced by the series of quakes in Mindanao in October and December this year, said that his fight against the water firms could even “destroy” him.

“It can destroy me—those are wealthy people, so, I told the military, if by chance, I don’t make it to the finish line, don’t give up … continue fighting them,” he said.

He said the contract with the water firms could “not be reformed nor corrected because it was null and void from the very beginning.”

“In that contract, the Philippines surrendered sovereignty by allowing concessionaires to control when there should be an increase (in water rates). Now, I’m asking who the lawyer is because I’m going after them.”

The President warned he would immediately suspend the writ of habeas corpus and immediately arrest the water firm owners if the water firms contest the government’s stand in court.

“Now, this will be a mess, I told them, they have to iron this out, if they file a case, they may file a case at the Supreme Court, I will declare a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and I will arrest all of them,” Duterte said. “I want billionaires inside the prison, they will get a taste of jail.”

He also renewed his threats to expropriate the Manila Water and Maynilad if the owners of the two big water firms shut down their operations following the recent move by the administration to make them accountable.

“I will negotiate but I will still file a case against you,” the President said. “I will negotiate because it’s your equipment, it’s your pipes but if you threaten to stop your operation, I don’t think you will succeed because I will order the military, General (Eduardo) Año, local government (secretary), (Social Welfare Secretary) Rolly Bautista, Army chief before, to take over their operation by way of expropriation,” he said.

“You expropriate and hire people who have had experiences in the handling of water, I’ll take them and pay them, and I tell the soldiers to operate it so that we can still have water),” the President said, adding that the corruption at the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs, he had been harping about during his presidential campaign was just too measly compared to the amount of money milked by big business, in this case, the water firms, from the government and the water consumers.

The President continued to express outrage at the water firms’ demand—following a favorable decision from an arbitration court in Singapore—for the government to pay them P7.4 billion for not allowing the water firm to increase its water rates.

“They’re asking me to pay P7 million for their losses, so I said, why should I pay? So, I studied the contract,” the President said.

He added that the water firm had collected an environment enhancement fee for years without setting up a water treatment facility that was supposed to be its purpose.

“If you’re a Manila resident, you’d see in your water bill, environment enhancement. This is supposed to be for water treatment, it has been in the bill in every collection, how many trillions are these, we paid for water treatment but until now, there is no water treatment, that’s estafa or economic sabotage,” he said. “Either way, that’s no bail.”

“There is a violation of the law, a crime has been committed,” he said.