LWUA acknowledges need for reforms in water service sector
Following President Marcos’ warning in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) that heads will roll over poor water service, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) acknowledged systemic failures in the country’s water sector and called for urgent reform.
LWUA Administrator Moises Salonga said the sector has long been neglected, leading to outdated systems, weak regulation and underperforming joint venture partners.
“There was a time that the water industry in the Philippines really was neglected,” Salonga said in a post-Sona briefing on Tuesday. “The LWUA lost funds. So there was a time that these water districts had to go to private partners … Sometimes the partnership was good, but there were times when it really wasn’t excellent.”
He noted that many water districts tried for years to fix or end problematic partnerships. “They’ve done that yearly. Yearly, it fails, too. Yearly, nothing happens,” he said.
Without naming companies, Salonga addressed widespread complaints over delays and poor service by some joint venture operators. He said private partners were contractually obligated to provide a specific capital but, “it wasn’t followed.”
“With regards to if there are technical capabilities, well, we can say they’re new [to the industry], but I don’t think they’re necessarily without experience because they’re used to construction,” he said.
Delayed response
Asked whether abuse was involved, Salonga said: “It’s the delay, I think it’s just it. That, we need to look at. Why did it take so long? Why didn’t you invest? Why is it that the people are complaining, but you didn’t respond or come up with a solution?”
He said LWUA has begun receiving “catch-up plans” from some operators but called these “actually an admission that there is fault.”
In his Sona on Monday, Mr. Marcos said he would hold accountable local water districts and their joint venture partners who failed to deliver sufficient and reliable water sources to more than six million consumers nationwide.
“The President has heard, the President has read. It’s not an exaggeration, that we brought to his office two ‘balikbayan boxes’ worth of documents and complaints,” Santiago said.
