The revised concession agreement (CA) between Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and Manila Water Company Inc. was supposed to take effect on September 30, but the two parties agreed to push it to a later date.
This, according to Manila Water, will synchronize the date of effectivity of its revised CA with that of Maynilad Water Services Inc..
In a regulatory filing, Manila Water said the Ayala-led company and MWSS signed on Thursday the amendment to the revised CA dated March 31, 2021. As part of the amendment, the Effective Date was changed from “not to exceed six months from signing of the Revised Concession Agreement or September 30, 2021” to “no later than November 18, 2021.”
The other amendment would be the review and amendment of the Common Purpose Facilities Agreement dated July 31, 1997. It was revised from “within six months from the signing of the Revised Concession Agreement or September 30, 2021” to “no later than November 18, 2021.”
"The amendment synchronizes the Effectivity Dates of the Revised Concession Agreements of the concessionaires (Manila Water and Maynilad) of MWSS as both concessionaires await the completion of the same remaining conditions to the effectivity of their respective revised CAs," Manila Water further told the local bourse.
It could be recalled that the government approved the revised CA between MWSS and Maynilad in May, more than a month after the revised CA between MWSS and Manila Water was released.
The revised CAs were the result of their reviews ordered in December 2019 by President Rodrigo Duterte. The President suspected that these CAs had onerous provisions that are disadvantageous to Filipino people.
The most notable onerous provisions under the old CAs “were the prohibition against government interference in rate-setting and the provision on indemnity for possible losses in the event of such government interference," according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
The Department of Justice was the lead government agency tasked to review the CAs, as well as draft their revised deals.