By Jose Cielito Reganit/PNA

MANILA — Lawmakers at the House of Representatives on Monday said they are mulling the filing of a class suit against Manila Water for its alleged “negligence”, which they described as the root cause of the week-long water crisis that affected around 1.2 million households in the east zone of Metro Manila.

Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo “Albee” Benitez, who chairs the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, said Manila Water should, at the very least, compensate consumers for failing to provide 24/7 water service in accordance with its concession agreements.

“Manila Water had admitted that obviously, they committed violations and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Regulatory office has sent notice of violations to Manila Water,” Benitez said in an interview after a congressional hearing on the water crisis.

“As I see it, there is negligence on the part of Manila Water, so there should be proper compensation to customers,” he added.

He also said that he and his colleagues are rejecting the statement of MWSS chief regulator Patrick Ty that the agency has no power to impose fines and penalties against Manila Water.

“Based on the provisions, the MWSS regulatory office can assess penalty if any of the concession agreement has been violated,” Benitez said.

“If we cannot agree, it might result in a class action suit,” he said, adding that lawmakers will discuss the details of the class suit if Manila Water fails to give justice to the victims of water service interruption.

He urged the water concessionaire not to take the problem lightly and begin thinking of the optimum amount that they should compensate their customers with.

“We will wait for Manila Water’s action. If they do not take any action to properly compensate their customers, we would be obliged to encourage a class action suit,” Benitez said.

Discount

Meanwhile, Mandaluyong City Rep. Quennie Gonzales, whose district was hit badly since the start of the water crisis, agreed with Benitez as she demanded a refund from Manila Water for her constituents.

“In the light of this extreme disturbance that our city was made to endure, I would like to appeal to the officials of Manila Water to seriously consider offering a rebate or a discount at the very least in the water bills of Mandaluyong residents for the month of March, and at best for the duration of the crisis,” she said.

“I think that, this is a fair enough compensation for Manila Water’s customers for their inefficiency that has caused a lot of unnecessary suffering and discomfort in the lives of the people in Mandaluyong,” Gonzales said.

In the meantime, Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said that the Philippines’ water concession law may need to be revised to penalize firms that fail to comply with distribution agreements, following Ty’s assertion that MWSS cannot penalize Manila Water.

She said a penalty provision should be added, recalling a conversation with Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, whose Committee on Metro Manila Development convened Monday’s hearing.

“Perhaps in the law, we have to add a penalty provision for those who failed to comply with some parts of the concession agreement,” Arroyo said in an interview.

“He (Castelo) says that seems to be what’s missing in the law,” Arroyo noted.

On the other hand, House senior Deputy Minority Leader and BUHAY Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza asked officials of Manila Water and MWSS to resign for their failure.

“MWSS administrator Reynaldo Velasco and Manila Water CEO should resign immediately for their failure to deliver water! They should stop citing statistics and technical requirements for their disastrous non-performance. Obviously you have failed,” Atienza said during the hearing.

He also agreed with Gonzales that a refund to the customers of Manila Water is in order.

“Are you willing to refund the consumers? Malinaw na talo sila dito. Walang tumutulong tubig pero magbabayad pa sila ng minimum amount,” Atienza said.