To help ease the widespread inconvenience of all customers in the East Zone, Manila Water Company Inc. announced today that it is set to give all of its customers a one-time voluntary bill waiver for March 2019 consumption, which will be reflected in the April billing.
This move, with inputs from the Regulatory and Corporate Offices of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), also shows the company’s strong commitment to recover customer trust and confidence amid this water shortage.
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Manila Water president and CEO Ferdinand Dela Cruz said that this development hopes to ease the inconvenience brought about by the water interruptions experienced by their customers.
“We understand the profound frustration that our customers have expressed. And we sincerely apologize for the widespread inconvenience that we have caused all our customers in the East Zone concession area with this unprecedented water shortage that began on March 6, which is beyond the typical service interruption,” Dela Cruz said.
The announced one-time March bill waiver scheme has two parts: One is that all Manila Water customers will receive a bill waiver of the minimum charge in their March consumption. This represents 10 cubic meters covering water, environmental and sewer charges.
The other being, for hard-hit barangays with absolutely no water service for at least seven (7) continuous or broken days from March 6-31, they will not be charged at all throughout March.
Recovery Efforts
As Manila Water implements this one-time bill waiver, the company said that it continues to focus on its service recovery efforts. As of March 25, Manila Water’s 8 to 12 water availability at ground floor level has reached 97%.
“From a high of 61 Hard Hit Barangays, we are down to 8 Hard Hit Barangays which are dependent on interim network solutions, static tanks or water tankers,” said Dela Cruz.
Manila Water also shared that the company’s 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,” he clarified.
As for the initiatives of some groups and government units, Dela Cruz expressed the company’s gratitude to all of their partners who continue to assist their customers during this water shortage situation.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the mayors, Congressmen, Barangay Captains, Homeowner 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,” he said.
Manila Water remains committed to work round the clock for its customers and to continue partnering with MWSS in addressing this situation in accordance with the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte.
As of this writing, 97.70 percent of consumers in the east zone now have longer hours of water availability for about 8 to 12 hours, at least at the ground floor level, after the decision to implement a rotational supply scheme that started on March 14.
Of this, Dela Cruz added, “We continue to seek your understanding and patience in the implementation of the scheduled water service interruption scheme which is aimed at refilling our 28 network reservoirs.”
“We also commend our customers who on their own have started their water conservation efforts in order for other customers to enjoy water in this limited supply situation.”
