Abstract
In the 1980s, it was argued that privatization was to be the cure-all for governments lacking the needed resources to modernize social service deliveries like water, and that the private sector would be in a better position than the government to provide for this. Given this backdrop, the Philippine government in 1997 privatized Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), its publicly-owned water service provided for Metro Manila. The provision of water was given to two private water concessionaires, Maynilad and Manila Water which failed to deliver on their promises. The Philippine experience is mirrored in other areas of the world which have led toward a movement for local governments to reclaim water as a public service. Because of this, several alternatives to water privatization have emerged, which include the following: (1) Public/non-profit partnerships (PuNPP) or co-privatization; (2) Single non-profit agencies (SiNPs); and (3) Deprivatization and/or remunicipalization.
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Notes
- 1.
The “West Zone” under Maynilad comprises most of the city of Manila, some parts of Quezon City and Makati, Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Pinas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon, all in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, in Cavite province. The “East Zone” under Manila Water includes most of Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Marikina, most parts of Quezon City, San Andres and Sta. Ana in Manila, as well as the Rizal cities and towns of Angono, Antipolo, Baras, Binangonan, Cainta, Cardona, Jalajala, Morong, Pililia, Rodriguez, San Mateo, Tanay, Taytay, and Teresa.
- 2.
With the 15-year extensions granted in October 2009 (for Manila Water) and in April 2010 (for Maynilad), both concessions are now to expire by 2037 instead of in 2022.
- 3.
In this chapter, multinational corporation (MNC) and transnational corporation (TNC) will be used interchangeably.
- 4.
The water resource sector includes irrigation (which accounts for over 80%) of the total water demand in the country, drainage, flood control, water supply, hydropower, fishery, and navigation (Corral 2003).
- 5.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Razon-Ayala deal was politically influenced by threats from President Rodrigo Duterte to “jail and sue officials of the two water companies for allegedly benefiting from the contracts that were supposedly disadvantageous to both the government and the public” (Canivel 2021).
- 6.
- 7.
“ISDS allows foreign corporations to sue host governments for supposedly causing them losses due to policy or regulatory changes that reduce the expected profitability of their investments. Very significantly, ISDS provisions have been and can be invoked, even when rules are non-discriminatory, or profits come from causing public harm. ISDS will thus strengthen perverse incentives for foreign investors at the expense of local businesses and the public interest” (Sundaram 2017).
- 8.
See earlier discussion of the ISDS mechanism.
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Tadem, E.C., Tadem, T.S.E. (2023). Reclaiming Public Services: Giving Back Ownership and Control of Water Services to the Public Sector. In: Tadem, T.S.E., Atienza, M.E.L. (eds) A Better Metro Manila?. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7804-3_9
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