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No to the Bulk Water Supply Project!
No to the Privatization of the Baguio Water District!

By COURAGE-CORDILLERA

September 14, 2005

The Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) - Cordillera strongly opposes the privatization of the Baguio Water District (BWD) through the Bulk Water Supply Project (BWSP) of Benguet Corporation (BC) because it violates our people’s right to potable, safe, adequate and affordable water as well as the public utility employees’ right to their jobs.

Based on the BC’s bid price, BWD is obliged to pay P60m/mo for 50,000 cms./day of water supply, whether it is able to sell this volume or not. This will result to BWD’s bankruptcy 2 – 3 mos. as its collection capability is only P20m/mo. The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), which is tasked to provide technical and financial support to water districts, can no longer help with its dissolution under EO 259. With very little or no government support, privatization is an eventuality.

The privatization of water service worldwide is being pursued within the framework of globalization. It is one of the structural adjustment programs of the IMF-WB that aims to relieve the crises in ailing first world economies by allowing transnational corporations into the public sector activities of indebted countries. This imposition should be able to give these TNC’s wider markets and assured profits.

Aside from benefiting first world economies through their TNC’s, privatization also benefits legislators who sponsor and vote in favor of laws privatizing government utilities, as well as local businesses who serve as their partners under the constitutional provision of 60:40 Filipino: foreign capital share.

With this, the priorities and nature of public services are distracted. Actual water crisis is often bloated to justify the need for privatization. We have to ask BWD where the BWSP now figures with the successful drilling projects that have increased our monthly production from around 37,000 cms to 67,000 cms, along with other efforts to increase production.

It is of no wonder that after 2 decades of privatization worldwide, its promises of efficiency and effectivity are yet to be realized even as the harsh social cost is enormous.

Water privatization in the Philippines and in the world shows the following grim realities: frequent and very high rate hikes, deterioration of water quality and services, massive retrenchment of public workers, withdrawal of either the private corporations or the governments from the contracts due to unfulfilled terms, usually resulting in loan obligations to be shouldered by the people. In Atlanta, Georgia, there were yearly sewer rates hike at an average of 12%, adding up to $80m to the contract, billing for the undone work by the private company, and retrenchment of more than 50% of its workers. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, water rates increased by 20% instead of a promised reduction of 27%, service cut-offs were common and there was 50% staff reduction. In Manila, Philippines, Maynilad raised rates from P6.58 in 2001 to P15.46 in 2004, continuously sought contract renegotiations including postponement of targets to reduce unaccounted water, and retrenched thousands of workers. The retrenchment of workers in the country is facilitated with Proclamation 50, which provides that private companies have the right to fire and hire once public agencies are privatized.

After the privatization of the MWSS, the biggest in the world when it took place in 1997, the privatization of the entire water service is now being pursued more aggressively with the dissolution of LWUA. This is to be followed by the privatization of the more than 500 water districts nationwide.

The grim experiences of privatization are bound to happen to Baguio if we allow BC’s Bulk Water Supply Project. We therefore challenge the entire Baguio citizenry as well as the public workers of BWD. We must bear in mind that we are the real owners of BWD whose mandate is to provide service in terms of potable, safe, affordable and sufficient water we must pursue.

Before we spend a lot for water we cannot drink, before we pay a lot more for services we will not be able to avail of, before we contribute to the big number of our unemployed, let us make our voices be heard. Let us say:
No to the Bulk Water System Project!
No to the privatization of BWD! #

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