THE PHILIPPINE STAR THE PHILIPPINE STAR

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THURSDAY I DECEMBER 5,2019 EfiEEfi5F] 'i#

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By LOUISE MAUREEN SIMEoN Tiris developed as Malaca- On Tuesday night, how- Upon receiving tire award,
flang accused some officials of evet Dutr-rte threatened to file N{anila lVater sald its chairman
,A1,aLa-led Manila Water helping water concessionaires
charges oi economic sabotage Fernando Zobel de Ayala and
Co._lnc. is willing Lo come up "rape" the econom;r
against \lanila \\ater and the other senior officials of the
r^'ith a "workable solution" "It is apparent that some
u'ith the govcrnment on a re- members of tJre govelnrl ent other concessionair.e Mavnilad companl. already sought guid-
Water Sen'ices Inc, for "icrew- ance and met with Finance
cent arbitration dccision that have not onlv looked the other
ing" Filipinos. Secretary Carlos Dominguez
entitlcd it to indemnificaiion way, buthave in tact purposely Duterte saici the concession III before it became public.
for unenforced rate hike, after guided the hancts -
Presidenl Duterte threatened who have raped our
of'thosi conhacts of Cte hvo firms are ''Secretary Dominguez ac-
economy disadr-a]riageou; to the public krorrledged our proposal to
t0 sue the water firm for eco- for their own personal
ag- beca rr.e thel pr':hibit the govem- work very closely wjth his
rLOrr'Lrt S a,lJ.!iUgl,-..."--
granC'.zen ent," presi derrtiil mPri iIJTn adj\Eting 'l,J atei ratdj. office tc F,Ld a n'rtrrallv ac-
In a statcmer.rt yesterday, the spokesman Salvador
Panelo The President claimed Ma- ceptable scheme to address
cast zone conccssionaire said it said in
a statement. nila l\'ater bagged the legal the arvard," Manila Water said.
is working on a mutually ac- "Worse, they are hell-beirt on vicion because the corrDanv is
ceptable manner of implenen- bleeding ow
Furthermore, Duterte has
country. dry The "part of tl-,e cLub.'' He did irot ordered Solicitor General Jose
tation of the arbitral award, delive4' of basic services eiaboraie. He said thc philio- Calida and Dominguez to draft
noting that lhe case was filed ,pri:per
has not been fostered but thwart- pines lost the case because'it a new contract that would be
due to a'violation incurred bv ed to the oufageous detrimcnl
of interfered in the comoanv's "reaily favorable" to the public
the previous administration.' the Filipilos," he added. applicati.rn tor rate hik!. ' and the goverrunent.
"Wc are more than willing Last week, an intemational
ard have started to work with arbibal court ordered the Philip- In deiense, Manila Water Maynilad airs side
emphasized that the arbitral For its part, Maynilad'said
the incunbent administration pme goverrment to pa1'
to come up with a workable Water P7.39 billion in indellrni- ar'r'ard issued in its favor is for ii is willing to sit do 'n with
Manila
acts in.ltreach of the procedure goverlment to resolve issues.
5olution to the arbitrati.on deci- fication for losses incurred
after committed by officials of the "We have not done anv-
sron," Manila water said. being barred from raising rates. previous administration. thing r,,'rong and we hope the

tt PAc.'g'f '" President understards that the

contract 1 -e have inherited lr'as
actually vrrittery reviewed and
approved bi'the governrnent at
c1) the height of the Metro Manila
water crisis in 1994" Mal'nilad
president and CEO Rarnonciio
Femandez told The STAR.
"We onlv have a view and
idea of whit they want to be
reviewed but we are waiting
iOI torm.al. Com.rF.,.tnicai:i.ot.. III€

are willing to discuss with the

government what thev ra'ant to
be reviewed," he added.
The same tribrirtal ordered
the Philippine govemment in
Juiy 2017 to reimburse Mavni-
lad P3.4 billion for losses fiom
March 2015 to August 2016,
arLd ruled that t-ire water firm
is allowed to recover its losses
from September 2016 onwards.
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