Water Privatization May Spurt Torrents of Protest

The privatization of the Calamba Water District may soon open the floodgates of people's dissent in the province of Laguna.

By Dennis Espada
Bulatlat 

CALAMBA CITY -- The privatization of the Calamba Water District (CWD) may soon open the floodgates of people's dissent. 

The warning came from the political party Bayan Muna (People First) chapter in Calamba, Laguna (46 kms south of Manila) as it challenged the city government to hold CWD officials and Board of Directors (BoD) accountable "for employing grave abuse of power to enrich themselves while in office." 

A report by the Commission on Audit (COA) in 2001 fueled the controversy, as it found the five-member BoD supposedly receiving not only excessive cash incentives worth millions of pesos, but also of allegedly manipulating official policies and regulations. 

Bayan Muna also called for a moratorium on the periodic water hikes in the province, which occur every two years since 1996 (see table below).

"The water rate now is P13 per cubic meter. We have already initiated a petition seeking to avail of discounted rates to benefit our constituents. We will not rest. We will expose the worsening situation within the CWD and draw steps to help advance the interests of our people," Barangay (village) Bucal chairman Delfin de Claro told community leaders in a public forum held at the Calamba Central II Elementary School last week. De Claro is the coordinator of Bayan Muna-Calamba. 

While the CWD management has refused to listen to its demands, Bayan Muna’s appeals, however, have been gaining ground among sectoral groups and some local officials. 

City Councilor Eddie Catindig and the Calamba Trial Lawyers Association, meanwhile, are considering the filing of civil and criminal charges against "corrupt leaders." 

Enough water 

In 1973, the Marcos government passed into law the Provincial Water Utilities Act (PD 198). It created the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), a government-owned and controlled corporation or GOCC tasked to bestow loans for the promotion and development of water services in provincial cities. 

On Sept. 4, 1976, the CWD likewise became a GOCC, also by virtue of PD 198. Before, it was directly under the supervision of the local government. 

Current operations cover 41 of the 54 barangays (villages) in the city. From 24,964 service connections in 2001, it gradually increased to 29,478 by June 2004. 

Combining all its 36 pumping stations, it is said that the water district can generate at least 1.559 million cubic meters of water every month, which is more than enough to sustain the needs of the community. 

Aside from this, several factories, as well as public and private resorts thriving in lakeside Barangay Pansol manage their own water systems. 

Onerous loans 

Bayan Muna-Southern Tagalog deputy regional coordinator Noli Capulong says the rapid expansion of the water district's operations over the years was made possible through loans coming from LWUA and the international lending agency Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

In 1998, the ADB reportedly agreed to release P138 million for the Phase II Project. This involves sourcing, stocking up and distribution using extended tubes and pipelines.

Documents also show that LWUA disbursed the following loans to CWD: P300,000 for the improvement of existing lines (1977), P1.7 million for the Phase I Project (1978), and P1.2 million for the pipe extension to the city's southern areas (1988). 

"But despite this so-called development, public water consumers are plunged into perennial problems of unaccounted water, antiquated lines and inefficient service," Capulong said empathically. 

The Water System Employees’ Response in Southern Tagalog (WATER), a regional labor alliance, orbserved that: "Hindi nailalaan ng BoD at manedsment ang malaking halaga mula sa water sales para tugunan ang suliranin sa unaccounted water at mabilis na serbisyo publiko, sapagkat papalaking kita nito ay napapapunta sa luho nila (The BoD and management have failed to allocate funds from water sales to address the problem of unaccounted water and to speed up public service because an increasing part of the profit is used to subsidize their luxury)." 

According to WATER, the monthly water sales jumped from P8 million in 2001 to P12 million in 2004, or P144 million every year. They believe that with this whooping revenue, the water district has the financial capacity to rehabilitate its defective lines. If this is so, there is no need to solicit onerous foreign loans. 

The group also slammed the national government's policy of water privatization. They scored Executive Order 279 which was issued early this year, saying it will encourage the sellout of water facilities all over the country to foreign investors and big local businessmen. Bulatlat 

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