Revoke Meralco Franchise, Pull the Plug on EPIRA

On Valentine’s Day, the Power to the People Coalition tell Meralco, “It’s Over.”

Meralco has failed the Filipino people. They promised cheap, widespread access to electricity, yet the only thing they mustered thus far are scandalous electricity rates that they expected ordinary Filipinos to meekly comply with.  

Meralco has consistently regarded ordinary Filipino consumers with the heartless, corporate greed for profit. The most recent spike in power rates proved this. Meralco made the absurd argument that it is not responsible for the record-high electricity rates simply because it had no power over the forced outages their power suppliers implemented. It became even more ridiculous when Meralco played the victim by claiming that it had no choice but to source power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for the power deficit. 

Nothing could be farther away from the truth. Documents submitted to the Supreme Court showed that it was Meralco’s order to power supplier Therma Mobile, which it controls, to bid at the maximum allowable price of P62.00 per kilowatt hour no less than 25 times during that period that was responsible for the skyhigh clearing price at the WESM. In short, Meralco gamed the market to benefit itself and other power producers. By doing so it defrauded its consumers whom it is obligated to supply electricity at the least possible cost. 

We belie Meralco’s claims that it was powerless over the simultaneous forced outages of its power producers. The shutdown of Malampaya for maintenance, and the shutdown of two other power plants for the same reason, were all scheduled. Meralco saw it coming, and they took the most convenient and profitable course of action. They chose to sit back, game the power industry, and make consumers pay for it all. 

That Meralco systematically abused the Filipino people is but a symptom of the failure of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). We must not forget that EPIRA is the main source of the problem; it put the whole industry under the gang rule of private power – from generation to transmission sectors, all the way to the cooperatives in the distribution sector. Privatization of the power industry has resulted in monopoly control, inefficient power delivery and sky-high prices, in direct contradiction to the promises EPIRA made to attain efficiency and break the monopoly in the electricity industry, and lower power prices. That Meralco’s profits have risen over 100 per cent since EPIRA went into effect in 2001, and that Meralco has the power to game the market at the expense of the people is a monstrous example of EPIRA’s failure.

13 years of Meralco’s greed and EPIRA’s exploitation of power consumers have pushed the people to a deeper level of destitution. To this, we raise our voice and declare that this abusive relations is over.  We call on the government to heed the people’s call: it is high time the government revokes Meralco’s mega-franchise and pulls the plug on EPIRA.

Mcdonald's Must Pay!

"Mcdonald's... Mcdonald's... Mcdonald's Must Pay!" 

This was the slogan that was repeatedly chanted by 25 APL Youth activists who staged a picket today right inside Mcdonald's West Triangle, one of the biggest stores in Quezon City.  For at least 15 minutes, the activists were able to explain to the customers the plight of the young workers in Pennsylvania while prominently displaying their placards and banner. One of the customers, an American tourist, even approached them and said that his own kids are helping Filipino workers who are employed in MacDonald's in Rochester, USA. He said that the Filipinos were promised jobs as hotel workers but ended up flipping burgers in McDonald's.

After 15 minutes, the protesters moved out of the store but continued their picketing outside the store. 

Similar actions APL Youth were held in Cavite, Cebu and Davao.

Groups demand clean and renewable energy

Groups demand clean and renewable energy at Department of Energy in Taguig City today. They push for drastic actions to achieve a global temperature that will reduce the intensity and devastation of climate change. - Philippine Movement for Climate Justice

Workers say: VAT increase will throw us back in the stone-age era

Workers today stormed the senate grounds to press against the impending passage of the VAT hike bill.

"Does this mean our lawmakers are amenable to people living in the dark, eating food they can't even cook? The cost of living in Metro Manila alone is already somewhere north of P500, and continues to rise, therefore, a VAT rate increase will only end up being paid for by workers as this regressive tax finds its way to products that are socially sensitive," Edwin Bustillos, Deputy Secretary General of the Alliance of Progressive Labor, said.

"Poor people who already cannot afford basic goods will be forced to cough up even more and should prices of products like gas for cooking and electricity rates shoot up because of the 12% VAT rate and the subsequent lifting of exemptions from this regressive scheme, people will not be able to afford them anymore," Bustillos explained.

"It is a sign of desperation and utter incompetence for the government to shore up its ailing finances by reaching deeper and deeper into the pockets of its citizens, as it makes no exceptions between rich and poor, and thus defeats the goal of an equitable taxation system," Bustillos added.

The labor group asked the government to fix first the problems of collection before thinking up of raising the VAT rate and said that VAT's supposed neutrality only works in advanced countries where collection and administration is efficient unlike in our country where our own context tells us that this policy only burdens consumers while it lets corrupt government officials get away with plunder.

APL demands the Senate to heed the workers call now before the poor majority will be virtually thrown back into the Dark Ages while calling on the people to stop VAT in its tracks and throw it instead into the dustbin of history.

Workers light up torches to shine light against pending darkness of VAT approval

Workers today continued their fight against the imposition of an increase in the value added tax rate from the current 10% to 12%.

The APL held a torch parade from Rodriguez Ave after holding a public forum on VAT and then marched towards the Boy Scout Circle in Morato.

"We vehemently condemn the move of the government to impose additional tax measures, which will only further our miseries especially the poor who will now have to bleed more for every centavo they need to make a living as we are entrenched deeper into extreme poverty," Josua Mata, Secretary General of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), said. "Unfortunately, with the senators-apologists of Malacañang actively campaigning for VAT, the Senate it seems is not doing a kinder version but a polished VAT measure that could be even worse than the House version," Mata added.

Meanwhile, Edwin Bustillos, deputy secretary general of APL said, "The government loses around P40 billion in VAT revenues each year due to leakages. In 2004 alone, there was an estimated 59% collection gap in VAT, which clearly demonstrates that the problem still remains with tax collection and administration. So why not focus on that part of the problem?"

"The cost of living in Metro Manila alone is already somewhere north of P500, and continues to rise, therefore, a VAT rate increase will only end up being paid for by workers as this regressive tax finds its way to products that are socially sensitive," Bustillos added.

APL staged a noise barrage to remind the public of the outrage that accompanied the proposal to increase the VAT rate, and that more people, they say, should express their disagreement with the policy.

The group vowed not to let this government get away with making its citizens and workers shell out more money to prop it up while the people don't get what they deserve to get in return -- a competent and transparent government.

Dagdag Presyo, Bawas Serbisyo!

June 19 - The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) picketed today the MWSS to denounce the regulatory body for conspiring with the water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water in jacking up water rates through a mysterious scheme called rate re-basing.

While the previously approved rate adjustment that more than doubled the current water prices to P15 (a whooping 135% increase compared to September 2001 level) is still being contested, the APL reminded the public that the conspirators are currently scheming to once again double the water rates to P30 by January 2003! And had it not been for the exposé of Akbayan a few weeks ago, they would have done so in complete secrecy, the labor center added.

To top it all, the MWSS, through Amendment Number 1 of the concession agreement, has allowed the water concessionaires to fleece the consumers while at the same time removing penalties for their compliance in their service obligations: Nagdagdag na nga ng presyo nagbawas pa ng serbisyo! (They have increased their prices while reducing the level of their service obligation!)

The APL blamed the government for this dismal state of affairs in the water service by explaining that when private means are used to deliver public services, the profit motive would always take precedence at the expense of the public’s welfare. The privatization of MWSS is definitely a failure.

While it was the previous governments that privatized public water services, it is the current government that perpetrates the problem by failing to put in place a strong regulatory mechanism that can enforce service obligations of the water concessionaires!

The APL asserts that water is a right and as such should not be subjected to the whims and caprices of profiteers. It believes that the water concessionaires should deliver their service obligations under the original concession agreement. If they cannot deliver, they should not be allowed price hikes, much less, allowed to stay in the business of running a public utility. The APL calls on the MWSS to publicly disclose all information regarding the water concessionaires’ petition for rate re-basing.

The APL is a national labor center that espouses social movement unionism. It embraces various forms of workers’ organizations operating in the formal and informal sector.

Thousands Joined the National Day of Protest Against the PPA , Power Companies Stormed by APL Militants

Workers’ indignation over the Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA) continue to escalate as thousands joined various mass actions aimed at: dramatizing the people’s indignation over the unjust collection of PPA; to reiterate the movement’s call for the rescinding of NAPOCOR’s and MERALCO’s onerous contracts with different Independent Power Producers (IPPs); and, the abolition of the PPA.

The protesters’ message is simple: “We don’t want to pay for electricity that we do not consume and we do not want to pay the IPPs for power that they do not even produce,” Josua Mata, APL Secretary General declared. “There is only one solution to this problem, and that is the abolition of the PPA,” he added.

Last 7 June, 300 APL activists stormed the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) in Cebu city.

Last 4 June, pickets, rallies, noise barrages and “lights-off” in numerous communities marked the National Day of Protest Against the PPA. For its part, APL stormed the headquarters of the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) in the morning, picketed the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) in the afternoon and capped the day by leading the noise barrage and “lights off” in the communities around NAPOCOR.

In Davao, tomatoes rained at the administrative office of the Davao Light and Power Company, as APL militants protested the power firm’s .24 centavo increase proposal and the controversial PPA.

In MERALCO, APL militants joined Akbayan in serving a “statement of billing” against the power company for overcharging its consumers these past few years by passing on its contractual obligations to its own IPPs, some of which are suspected of being as onerous as NAPOCOR’s IPP contracts.

In an impromptu debate during the mass actions, a MERALCO manager was forced to admit that it would continue to collect PPA from its consumers to cover its own IPP contracts (despite the suspension of NAPOCOR’s PPA collections).

In the afternoon, APL militants, together with Akbayan, picketed the headquarters of NAPOCOR to reiterate its call for the abolition of the PPA.

The picket in NAPOCOR segued into a noise barrage and “lights off” in the urban poor communities around NAPOCOR.

Members of the Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU) and youth activists from the Movement for the Advancement of Student Power (MASP) and Alyansa were also present during the protest actions.

The National Day of Protest Against the PPA was spearheaded by the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC).

Suspension is not Enough, Abolish PPAs!

Today, workers belonging to the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) picketed the MERALCO Office to protest the private utility company’s continued collection of PPA payments to cover its own obligations to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and to reiterate its call for the abolition of the Purchased Power Adjustments (PPA).

The picketers continued to encourage MERALCO customers to have their electricity bills stamped with “under protest” markings.

The suspension of PPA payments slapped by the government to quell the snowballing protest against onerous IPP contracts covers only those that are contracted by the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR).

While the suspension is a welcome move, it is simply not enough. After all, MERALCO gets half of its power directly from its own IPPs, including those owned by the Lopezes themselves.

This means that the promised 80-centavo reduction in PPA payments would not be realized so long as MERALCO is allowed to collect PPA to cover its own IPP contracts, some of which are believed to be as onerous as NAPOCOR’s IPP contracts.

The APL also criticized current legislative measures calling for government to absorb portions of the PPA as unacceptable.

“Congress is ignoring the crux of the problem. We don’t want to pay for power that we don’t use, whether it is collected through PPAs or whether it is through taxes! The only solution acceptable for workers is one that is not premised on meeting the obligations of NAPOCOR and MERALCO to their onerous IPP contracts. All onerous IPP contracts must be rescinded” Josua Mata, APL Secretary General said.

WORKERS PICKET MERALCO BRANCHES “KONTRA PPA PATAK CENTERS" ESTABLISHED

Today, workers belonging to the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), together with Bukluran sa Ikauunlad ng Sosyalistang Isip at Gawa (BISIG), will join the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) in picketing Meralco and setting up a “Kontra PPA Tatak Center” at the Cubao MERALCO branch (near Ali Mall) from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. As a sign of protest against the Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA), the picketers would encourage Meralco consumers to have their electricity bills stamped with “under protest” markings. Similar centers will also be set up in different MERALCO branches that include those in Kamuning (cor. EDSA), North Manila (Gen. Na cor Tiangco St., Bgy. Concepcion, Malabon), and in Commonwealth Ave. (near Sandiganbayan, Batasan, Q.C.)

In a move to prop up her sagging popularity and to quell the public’s clamor for the scrapping of the PPA, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s has ordered the NAPOCOR to lower PPA charges to P0.40 per kilowatt-hour. But this failed to impress the protesting workers.

“This palliative measure entirely misses the point. So long as onerous contract with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are honored, we would continue to pay for overpriced power that we do not even consume, and in some cases, was not even meant to be produced” Josua Mata, APL Secretary General, declared.

The President’s directive does not intend to solve the problem. Since it continues to honor its onerous contracts with the IPPs, Government is now scampering to find new loans to ensure these payments. This would merely shift the burden of subsidizing the inefficiency and corrupt practices of NAPOCOR, MERALCO and the IPPs to the future.

Scraping the PPA is the only solution!

Unfortunately, even the review of government contracts with the IPPs seems to be getting nowhere. Up to now, the IPP Review Committee has yet to have its own operational budget!

The PPA is more than just an economic issue; it is an issue of grave injustice. Why should the workers be asked to pay for something borne out of corruption and mismanagement of the government in the power industry? The workers could not simply reconcile the fact that they are paying for something that they have never gained anything from but headaches and more miseries. They could have used their hard earned money being paid for PPA instead to buy other necessities like food, clothing, and educational needs for their children.

The picket is just part of the workers’ escalating campaign to scrap the PPA and the contracts signed between the NAPOCOR and Independent Power Producers.

The Alliance of Progressive Labor is a national trade union center that embraces various forms of workers’ organizations in the formal and informal sector. It is a member organization of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC).

WORKERS OF HYATT REGENCY MANILA ON STRIKE!

Two days after being mauled by the Hotel’s security guards during a peaceful picket protest, the workers of Hyatt Regency Manila is now on strike!

At exactly 2:30 this morning, 210 rank and file workers of the plush Hotel in Pasay City went on strike in response to the Hotel management’s unjustified mass lay-off. The workers, belonging to the National Union of Workers in Hotel Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN-APL-IUF), asserts that the mass lay-off is merely a pretext to bust the union since the Hotel management has yet to prove its claims of financial losses and has started hiring contractual workers. There is widespread suspicion that this is the Hotel’s way of getting back at the Union for demanding at least 1.3 million undistributed service charge collections from 1999 to 2001.

Last 5 May 2002, the Hotel sacked 48 regular rank and file workers. Yet the very next day, the Hotel hired 60 contractual employees through 3 manning agencies. Meanwhile, the Hotel management insists on filling up positions previously vacated by regular employees with casual workers.

As early as January of this year, the Union, in the absence of any evidence of financial losses, has strongly registered its opposition to the Hotel management’s plan of reducing regular rank and file employees from 248 to 150. The fact is, in 1999, the Hotel earned P35 million pesos while in 2000 it earned P39 million pesos. Suspiciously, the Hotel continues to ignore the Union’s repeated demands for its financial statement in 2001. The Union believes that despite the political crisis, the Hotel profited in 2001.

To make matters worse, the Hotel also ignored the Union’s offer to take what amounted to pay cuts to avoid retrenchments so long as management can show proof of financial losses. The Union’s proposal for cost saving measures even included taking 30-day vacation leaves without pay and a 5-day working period

Failing to arrive at an amicable settlement, the Union filed a Notice of Strike (NOS) last 12 April 2002 for unfair labor practices, including CBA violations.

The mass lay-off is a clear violation of the Hotel’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the Union which specifically prohibits the contracting out of jobs occupied by regular employees. Article IV, Section IV of the CBA states that:

“The Hotel shall not contract out services being performed by the regular rank and file employee when the same will interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of the right to self-organization.”

It should be noted that Article 248 of the Philippine Labor Code also covers this prohibition.

Obviously, the mass lay-off has no basis. The Hotel is not operating at a loss and it appears that it is even in need of more workers! This begs the question: Why would management resort to illegally terminating its regular workforce? The answer is simple: to bust the Union which has uncovered at least 1.3 million undistributed service charge collections from 1999 to 2001!

The Labor Code stipulates that 85% of all service charge collections shall be distributed to the workers while 15% shall be used to cover breakages and losses. In the case of Hyatt Regency, the CBA provides that 95% shall be distributed to workers while 5% shall cover breakages and losses.

The strike in Hyatt Regency Manila is a struggle not just to prevent the illegal termination of 48 regular rank and file workers but to defend the worker’s constitutional right to self-organization!

It is for this reason that the Union enjoins the general public, especially the Hotel’s valued guests, to refrain from patronizing Hyatt Regency Manila until all the illegally terminated workers are fully reinstated.

The Union urges Jose Mari Chan, President of Hotel Enterprises of the Philippines, Inc. (HEPI), owner of the Hyatt Regency Manila, to direct the Hotel’s management to heed the rightful demands of the Union.

Finally, the Union urges the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Patricia Santo Tomas, to restrain from assuming jurisdiction over this labor row especially if such an action would not result to the immediate physical reinstatement of all illegally terminated workers.

NUWHRAIN is a founding member of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and is affiliated to the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Hyatt Hotel Harassed Its Own Employees

Scores were injured while 3 of the union officers were mauled yesterday, 8 May 2002, when security guards of Hyatt Regency attacked some 100 employees who were on their third day of peaceful picket protests in front of the plush hotel in Pasay City.

“This just shows the hotel’s utter disregard for human and trade union rights,” Edwin Bustillos, President of Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Hyatt (SAMASAH-NUWHRAIN-APL), said.

The labor row stemmed from the mass lay-off of 48 regular rank and file employees, which, the management said was due to redundancy and cost cutting. However, even before issuing walking papers to the hapless workers, the management hired 60 contractual employees through 3 manning agencies. Meanwhile, the Hotel management, in clear violation of its Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Union, insisted on filling up positions previously vacated by regular employees with casual workers.

The Hotel management has yet to show evidence of financial losses. In 1999, the Hotel earned P35 million pesos while in 2000 it earned P39 million pesos. The Hotel continues to ignore the Union’s repeated demands for its financial statement in 2001.

To make matters worse, the Hotel also ignored the Union’s offer to take what amounted to pay cuts to avoid retrenchments so long as management can show proof of financial losses. The Union’s proposal for cost saving measures even included taking 30-day vacation leaves without pay and a 5-day working period

“One does not have to be a genius to figure out the Hotel management’s intention – to replace regular employees with contractual and casual workers, ultimately to bust the union,” Bustillos said. “If this is not resolved in the soonest possible time, we would be forced to take strike action,” he added.

Hotel Enterprises of the Philippines, Inc. (HEPI), owner of the Hyatt Regency Manila, signed a CBA with the Union last year, 19 November 2001, specifying that the Hotel should maintain 248 regular rank and file employees for the period 2001-2003. Reneging on its commitment, the Hotel management plans to reduce its regular workforce to 150.

The Union filled a Notice of Strike (NOS) for unfair labor practices, including CBA violations, last 12 April 2002.

NUWHRAIN is a national union of workers in the hotel, restaurant and food industries. It is a founding member of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and is affiliated to the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Thousands Marched to Celebrate the Labor Centennial and to demand the country’s withdrawal from the WTO!

GMA hounded by protesters in Cebu and Davao!
Workers vow to fight water and power rate increases, oil price hikes and added taxes!

Tens of thousands of workers belonging to the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) today poured into the streets of Manila, Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and Cagayan de Oro to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the Philippine labor movement, press for the strengthening of workers’ and trade union rights and called for the country’s withdrawal from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“Massive unemployment, contractualization, low wages, skyrocketing water and electricity rates, oil price hikes and added taxes… is this the government’s nasty way of thanking the labor movement after a 100 years of struggles?,” Daniel L. Edralin, APL chairperson, sarcastically said.

Ironically, while the government is bent on fast tracking trade liberalization in the country, countries of the North have increasingly resorted to protectionist measures in violation of WTO rules just so they can save their workers’ jobs. For the first quarter of 2002, 500 local firms were forced to shut down displacing more than 10,000 workers. “This situation is a complete reversal of what the government promised us before joining the WTO in 1995,” Edralin said. “The WTO benefits the rich countries, while leaving the poor countries devastated. Thus we see no reason for us to stay in the WTO any minute longer,” he added.

In Manila alone, 15,000 workers converged in Welcome Rotonda and marched to Mehan Garden. Representatives Etta Rosales (Akbayan party list) and Del de Guzman (Marikina, lone district) and a number of activist delegates from the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) from Asia and Pacific joined the marchers in protesting the evils of capitalist globalization.

Similar mobilizations were simultaneously held in other key cities. In Cebu, UP President Francisco Nemenzo joined 3,000 workers who marched from Fuente Osmeña to Gaisano South. In Davao, 5,000 workers marched around the city. The Cebu and Davao marchers also picketed President Arroyo’s visit in the two cities. At least 2,000 marchers joined the APL-led rally in Cagayan de Oro.

The Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU), the Philippine Cement Workers’ Council (PCWC), the National Alliance of Broadcast Unions (NABU), Postal Employees Union of the Philippines (PEUP) and other workers’ organizations joined APL in these mobilizations. Akbayan and BISIG also mobilized their own members in support of the APL.

In its Labor Day Manifesto, the APL vowed to fight the anti-worker and anti-people policies of the Arroyo administration and to work for the strengthening of workers’ and trade union rights by reforming the labor relations framework in the country through a set of legislative measures dubbed as “Labor Centennial Bills.”

The APL is a social movement center composed of trade union federations, national unions, workers’ associations in the informal sector and workers’ community organization. It has chapters in all the major cities around the country.

Workers Calls for Congressional Inquiry into Maynilad’s Abandonment of Obligation

More than 200 hundred workers belonging to the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) would march to Congress today to ask for a congressional investigation on Maynilad’s abandonment of its obligation in certain areas of Quezon and Caloocan Cities.

Two years after paying their water connection fees, hundreds of workers from District 1 in Caloocan City and District 2 in Quezon City trooped to the headquarters of Maynilad Water Services last April 19 2002 for a scheduled appointment with Rafael Alunan III, president of the water concessionaire, to demand the delivery of a long-delayed promise of water service connection in their area and to protest water rate increases. But just like the water pipes that were never installed, Mr. Alunan failed to show up.

Instead of meeting with the protesters, Mr. Frankie Arellano, Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs of Maynilad, announced in a television interview that they have instructed their people to visit the area to “study the possibility of installing water services.”

“So, two years after collecting connection fees, all they intend to do now is to look into the possibility of providing water services,” Josua Mata, APL Secretary General said. “Maynilad has obviously abandoned its obligation to provide efficient water services in its concession area,” he added.

In a statement, APL said that, “privatization of water has miserably failed. It led to a much higher average water tariff and failed to improve water services.”

Hundreds of workers from APL would march to Congress today to file petitions to the Committee on Privatization and Government Corporations, as well as to the Committee on Economic Affairs to investigate Maynilad’s capacity as a water concessionaire. These Congressional bodies are set to start their investigation of the amendment of the concession agreement between the government and water companies today.

DESPITE ITS DISMAL SERVICE PERFORMANCE, MAYNILAD HAS THE NERVE TO ASK FOR WATER RATE INCREASE!

More 200 workers belonging to the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) trooped to the headquarters of Maynilad this morning to demand the delivery of a long-delayed promise of water service connection in their area and to protest water rate increases.

Two years ago, the protesting workers, mostly residents of Maligaya Park Subdivision that straddles Quezon City and Coolocan City, took the promotional offer of MAYNILAD to provide water service connection upon payment of P200.00. Under this offer, the rest of the installment fees would be added to the workers’ monthly bills on an installment basis. Two years later, the workers have yet to see Maynilad’s delivery of the promised water connection!

This proves Maynilad’s inability to run a basic utility service that is supposedly committed in serving the interest of the consumers. Yet despite of this, Maynilad has the nerve to ask for water rate increases. To add insult to injury, Maynilad has even applied for rate-rebasing that would peg basic water tariffs at P30 pesos per cubic meter!

“Clearly the Lopezes do not know how to run a business outside of monopoly conditions,” Josua Mata, Secretary General of APL said. “This is a clear evidence of the failure of water privatization,” he added.

MAYNILAD, owned by the Lopez Group of Companies (that also owns the Manila Electric Co.) increased water rates last October 2001 and on January 1, 2002. It will again raise its rates in July 2002. Since it was privatized, water rates have jacked up by 135% from P6.58 pcm in September 2001 to P15.46pcm this march. Maynilad’s application for rate-basing would mean another 94% increase in the price of water.

To justify the increases, it published an ad in leading newspapers last April 17 claiming that their rates are cheaper than vendors selling purified bottled water and those providing provincial water. The APL suggests that the said paid was designed to mislead the consumers of Metro Manila. Why compare the prices of Maynilad with water vendors or provincial water? Why not compare it with the price of Manila Water Company? As of March 2002, Maynilad currently charges an average tariff of P15.46 pesos per cubic meter while Manila Water Company, despite its own list of inefficiencies, charges an average tariff of P6.75 per cubic meter.

Also, It cannot simply compare their rates to water vendors since those who consume bottled waters are the people who can afford to buy it. But a workers’ community, whose employment depends on contractual and seasonal jobs, and could not afford bottled water.

Water-vending stations are flourishing. This only shows the incompetence and inability of MAYNILAD to provide safe and potable water to every household. The consumers have yet to see improvements in the delivery of potable water and yet the government and water concessionaires keep on harping on the “merits” of privatizing public service utilities such as water.

The price increases, lousy service and the flawed regulatory process all prove that the biggest water privatization project in the world is a total failure thanks to greedy and inefficient water companies like Maynilad!

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and Tala Estate Settlers’ Federation (TESEFF) strongly condemn this appalling situation and demands the REPLACEMENT OF MAYNILAD AND THE REFORM OF REGULATORY BODIES. IT VOWS TO RESIST WATER PRICE INCREASES. The APL insists that the national government should review its privatization program and exclude public utilities from it since experience has shown that such will not truly serve the interest of the Filipino people.