Manila Water announces a voluntary and one-time bill waiver program in March to be reflected in customers’ April bill as relief to its customers who were affected by massive water service interruptions.
Customers of the East Zone, from low-income families to commercial and industrial establishments, suffered major inconveniences because of the unprecedented water shortage that began March 6 with the implementation of the scheduled water service interruption scheme to refill the 28 network reservoirs.
“We understand the profound frustration that our customers have expressed in the past 3 weeks. And to help ease in some way the inconvenience we have caused, with inputs from both MWSS Corporate Office and Regulatory Office, we are announcing a voluntary and one-time bill waiver scheme in March to be reflected in the April bill of our customers.,” says Manila Water President and CEO Ferdinand Dela Cruz. “Firstly, all customers will have their minimum charge waived while, secondly, customers in barangays which experienced absolutely no water service for at least seven (7) continuous or broken days within March 6-31 will not be charged for their March bills.” Dela Cruz added. The minimum charge represents 10 cubic meters covering water, environmental and sewer charges. The typical minimum charge ranges from PHP 76 per month for our lifeline or low-consuming customers to PHP 656 for industrial customers. Lifeline customers will benefit the most as their minimum charge, which is also their monthly charge, will both be waived.
Dela Cruz likewise shared that technical solutions are being put in place to help stabilize the water supply distribution regime across the East Zone in efforts towards service recovery.
“As of March 25, our 8 to 12-hour water availability at ground floor level has reached 97%. From a high of 61 severely affected barangays, we are now down to 8 barangays which are dependent on interim network solutions, static tanks or water tankers. Our supply deficit is down from 150MLD to 107MLD but there are still small pockets, sitios or streets with intermittent no water situations resulting from operational adjustments and pressure management,” Dela Cruz further shared.
While recognizing the difficulty of customers during this period, Dela Cruz was quick to acknowledge the assistance of the local government units and other government-attached and civic organizations in addressing the water supply challenge, by lending their resources, such as water tankers and fire trucks, to bring water to affected customers.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners who continue to assist our customers during this water shortage situation – all the mayors, congressmen, barangay captains, homeowners’ associations, condo corp administrators, the Philippine National Red Cross, the Bureau of Fire Protection, DENR, NWRB, MMDA, DOH, Private organizations, NGO and many more good-hearted citizens,” Dela Cruz shared.
Manila Water remains hard at work to bring back 24/7 water service to all its customers, even at reduced pressure. “We continue to work with the MWSS – RO and CO in addressing this situation in accordance with the directive of our good President,” Dela Cruz said.
