A dry spell has hit the Manila Police District headquarters on United Nations Avenue over unpaid water bills amounting to millions of pesos. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
“Tipid. Walang tubig (Conserve. There’s no water),” said a note posted on the door of one of the toilets at the Manila Police District (MPD) headquarters on United Nations Avenue in Ermita, Manila.
After Maynilad cut off the water supply to the MPD last week over P8-million unpaid bills, members of the Special Weapons and Tactics unit have been collecting rainwater and using their hoard for flushing toilets.
On the other hand, policewomen stationed at the MPD have resorted to using the restrooms in nearby fastfood restaurants while those who want water delivered to their offices have had to shell out P8 per gallon.
It was the third time in three years that the police headquarters had experienced a dry spell after it racked up P14 million in unpaid water bills to Maynilad in 2005.
MPD officer in charge Senior Supt. Robert Po said that they had been paying off their debt in installments—an arrangement that did not sit well with the water concessionaire.
“Every year, this is our problem. Evidently, Maynilad is not satisfied with the way we are paying [off our debt] so it cut off our water supply,” Po told the Inquirer.
According to him, P2.5 million was paid to Maynilad last Friday after the water supply was cut off earlier in the week but the firm has refused to reconnect the service.
“Maynilad wants more. The P2.5 million is not enough,” Po said, adding that he had arranged a dialogue with officials of the water firm. The MPD still owes Maynilad around P8 million.
Payment for the utility bills of the different police districts in Metro Manila comes from the services budget allotted by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), he said.
When the MPD’s water service was first cut in 2011, it settled 30 percent of its P14 million debt to Maynilad.
Last year, Maynilad demanded payment of the unpaid balance amounting to P5.7 million. A portion of the total was for the water bills of other Manila police stations.
As part of efforts to cut down on water bills, the MPD reminded its men to conserve water while pipeline checks were conducted. “It turns out there were leaks. That’s one of the causes for the increase [in our water bill]. They changed some of the pipelines earlier this year,” Po said.
In a phone interview, NCRPO logistics division chief Senior Supt. Rene Aspera told the Inquirer that they were working on reconnecting the water supply at the MPD.
According to him, his office has already received from the national police headquarters a notice of fund allocation for around P2 million.
“We have prepared a voucher to show Maynilad we can pay a percentage of the total debt,” Aspera said as he explained that last year, Maynilad demanded that the MPD settle at least 10 to 20 percent of its unpaid water bills.
He added that the NCRPO receives roughly P3 million a month to pay off the water bills of its headquarters in Taguig City in addition to that of the MPD, Northern Police District, Quezon City Police District and Eastern Police District.
Asked how much the average monthly water consumption of the MPD was, Aspera could not give a figure although he said that “it was much bigger than [that of] the other districts.”
“We were wondering why the MPD’s water bills were higher so we conducted pipe inspections with Maynilad late last year,” Aspera said.
The spot checks confirmed that there were pipe leakages as well as water pilferage, leading to the replacement of pipelines, which was completed in November, he added.
NCRPO chief Director Leonardo Espina, meanwhile, expressed optimism that the water supply to the MPD would be reconnected by next week.—With Jaymee T. Gamil, Tessa Distor and Sushmita Chim