Manila police headquarters left with one functioning toilet

The lack of water at the Manila Police District (MPD) headquarters on United Nations Avenue in Manila has prompted its officials to shut down most of the toilets in the building.

The decision was made more than a month after Maynilad Water Services Inc. cut off the water supply to the police headquarters due to P14.178 million in unpaid bills dating back to 2005.

Four toilets in the building were locked up to prevent these from being used with only one male restroom still open.

Officials said the move was necessary to prevent the toilets from stinking up the MPD headquarters due to the lack of water.

Limited water supply

Right now, only three offices at the police headquarters still have access to water and the personnel in other departments have assigned errand boys to fetch water in pails for their needs.

For its part, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has conducted an inspection of the MPD compound in preparation for the installation of water meters once the unpaid bill is settled.

Supt. Luis Francisco Jr, head of the MPD Logistics Division, told the Inquirer that water supply to the headquarters may soon be restored as the NCRPO and Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame have expressed willingness to shell out the more than P3–million fee needed for service reconnection.

Maynilad requires the payment of at least 30 percent of the amount due before it can restore service which was disconnected on June 30.

Francisco said that the NCRPO and Camp Crame were directly negotiating with Maynilad for the restoration of water service although the NCRPO wanted sub-meters installed in every office at the district headquarters so that it could monitor water usage and cut down on consumption.

Conservation measure

The same scheme is also being eyed for electricity since the MPD also owes Manila Electric Co.  more than P100 million in unpaid bills dating back to 1998.

On average, the total monthly water consumption of the MPD, including its headquarters and nine of its 11 police stations, amounts to P600,000.  The NCRPO is given a monthly fund allocation of P948,166.67 for water bills although each police district is allocated only P161,188.33.

On the other hand, the NCRPO has a monthly fund allocation for electricity of P6,495,000 out of which P1,104,150 is allocated for each police district.  On average, the MPD racks up a monthly power bill of about P1.8 million.