The reactions to my part in the chorus of protests being leveled at Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Co. Inc., the two suppliers of water to Metro Manila (Legalized Plunder, July 13) were for the most part unsurprising: People do not like being charged very high rates for a basic service they have no choice but to buy, they especially do not like learning those rates are so high because they include charges for things like the suppliers’ own income taxes and entertainment expenses, and they are more than happy to express their outrage about it in forums such as Facebook or in the comments section of this paper’s online version.
The opinions about the growing scandal were not unanimous, however; Gary Olivar, one of my favorite columnists at one of the few other papers worth reading apart from The Times, made a couple interesting, if somewhat discomforting, points about the issue in his column last week. Privatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) was seen as necessary because as a government agency, it had failed its mandate to provide acceptable water services to Metro Manila; the comparative superiority of private to government enterprise in creating and maintaining efficient infrastructure systems is a forgone conclusion. That being the case, the real issues in Olivar’s view are questions about whether the contracts between the MWSS and the two concessionaires were violated; whether or not the contracts were formed validly in the first place, or in other words, whether the parties to the contracts (MWSS and the water suppliers) signed them with the full understanding of the terms and conditions; and if the contracts are revoked, for whatever reason or through whatever legal process it might be done, what would be the replacement for the present arrangement?