Consumers Ask Maynilad to Refund P6.4 B; 
Call for Oil Price Rollback Anew
New Consumer Task Force Dares Presidentiables to Address Consumer Woes

A new consumer alliance composed of big organizations has been formed to campaign for the refund of billions of pesos which they said have been illegally collected by private water companies, as well as for an immediate oil price rollback.

By Alexander Martin Remollino 
Bulatlat.com

The Lopez-owned Maynila Water Services is being asked by consumer groups to refund some P6.4 billion which they said the company illegally charged consumer households since 2001. They also asked oil companies for a price rollback.

The consumer groups, aligned under the Task Force March 15, also scored the Macapagal-Arroyo administration for what they describe as increasingly anti-consumer policies.

In a forum held last March 15 in commemoration of World Consumer Rights Day at the University Hotel, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, Task Force March 15 assailed the rise in prices of food, oil, water, electricity, communications, and other commodities used everyday by Filipinos.

The task force is composed of Kontra-Kartel, Water for the People Network, the Citizens’ Alliance for Consumer Protection (CACP), Alerto Mamimili, and Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay, an urban poor alliance).

March 15, 2004 marked the 22nd commemoration of World Consumer Rights Day.

Water woes

Corazon Concepcion, who spoke for the Water for the People Network, said: “Water is life, so we should be in control of it. Right now it is like oxygen being sold.”

The Water for the People Network is campaigning against the alleged illegal collection by the Lopez-owned Maynilad Water Systems, Inc. of the foreign currency differential adjustment (FCDA) and the accelerated extraordinary price adjustment (AEPA). Based on the network’s research, Maynilad has been collecting some P7  million daily or a total of P6.4 billion in unauthorized fees from its customers.

Metro Manila’s water services used to be administered by the government’s Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). (Maynilad has reportedly given up its water distribution concession for northern Metro Manila and MWSS has taken over temporarily.)

In 1997, under the Ramos administration’s privatization program, MWSS opened its concessions for public bidding. Maynilad won the concession for the MWSS west zone, encompassing all of Manila except San Andres and Sta. Ana; Pasay City, Parańaque, Kalookan, Muntinlupa, Las Pińas and Valenzuela Cities; Navotas, Malabon, and parts of Makati and Quezon Cities. It also sells water in Cavite City and the nearby towns of Bacoor, Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario, and Imus. (The Ayala-owned Manila Water Company and its foreign partner won the concession for the east zone.)

The MWSS privatization program promised lower water rates to its constituents. But based on data from socio-economic think tank Ibon Foundation, Maynilad has increased its basic rates by 226 percent from August 1997 to January 2004. Arnold Padilla, senior researcher for Ibon Foundation, said privatization “has...resulted in onerous charges that consumers are forced to bear.”

The MWSS authorized Maynilad and Manila Water to collect the FCDA and the AEPA to safeguard their “commercial viability” and compensate for movements in foreign exchange (Forex) originating from MWSS loans and concession fee payments. The FCDA, a quarterly adjustment intended to reflect Forex impacts, began to be collected on Jan. 1, 2002.

On the other hand, the AEPA is a fixed rate that Maynilad and Manila Water can bill their customers from Oct. 15, 2001to Dec. 31, 2002 only. Maynilad has been collecting P4.07 per cubic meter in FCDA since Jan. 1, 2002 and P4.21 per cubic meter in AEPA since Oct. 15, 2001. Maynilad, according to the Water for the People Network, has continued to collect the AEPA even after Dec. 31, 2002. Not only that, according to the MWSS, Maynilad is no longer authorized to collect the FCDA and the AEPA because it stopped paying its concession fees in March 2001.

The Water for the People Network is composed of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance); Ibon Foundation; Confederation for the Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage); Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP – Peasant Movement in the Philippines); Cordillera Peoples Alliance; Center for Environmental Concerns; Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment; the women’s alliance Gabriela; Kadamay; and other non-government and people’s organizations, including community associations.

The network advocates people’s control of water services and resources.

Oil and food

Meanwhile, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May 1^st Movement) secretary-general Joel Maglunsod, who spoke for Kontra-Kartel, called for a reduction of gasoline and diesel prices. In particular, he echoed the call of the KMU-affiliated Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston, an alliance of public transport drivers and operators) for a rollback of oil prices to P12.20 per liter. Diesel prices are now pegged at P18 per liter.

Piston, which staged a nationwide transport strike early this month to demand a fare hike and oil price rollback, revealed in a recent statement that oil companies made some P240 billion from January to May 2003 through overpricing. Similarly, data from Ibon Foundation show that oil companies overpriced their products by at least 91 centavos last year.

The deregulation of the downstream oil industry during the Ramos administration promised lower oil prices. However, there have been more than 60 oil price increases since the Oil Deregulation Act was passed.

Data from Ibon Foundation reveals many instances where oil companies increased local oil prices even when there was a downtrend in world crude prices.

Meanwhile, the women’s alliance Gabriela revealed that prices of basic commodities have increased sharply under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Gabriela leaders played a major role in organizing the consumer network Alerto Mamimili, represented by Lolita Donato at the March 15 forum.

Based on Gabriela’s data, the price of pork has increased by P50 per kilo since 2001, that of chicken by P38 per kilo, that of galunggong by P30 per kilo, that of cooking oil by P30 per liter, that of liquefied petroleum gas by P70 per tank, and that of ordinary rice by P3 per kilo.

The organizations comprising the alliance also challenged presidential candidates to address consumer issues.

CACP’s Raul Segovia challenged Macapagal-Arroyo and other presidential candidates to address consumer issues. He also batted for a consumer-friendly economy: a stop to the privatization of social services, an increase in people’s participation in economic activity, the promotion of local industries, and an increase in tariffs on imported goods. Bulatlat.com

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