The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has started its own due diligence and vetting of three Chinese contractors submitted by China to the Department of Finance for the P18.75-billion Kaliwa dam project, one of President Duterte’s flagship water security projects.

MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco said this was in compliance with the directive of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III for “MWSS to conduct its own due diligence in vetting the said Chinese companies/contractors subject to applicable laws, rules and regulations.”

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In a letter to Dominguez last September, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua submitted the three shortlisted Chinese contractors and companies namely, China Engineering Co. Ltd., Power China Ltd, and the Consortium of Guandung Foreign Construction Co. Ltd., and Guandong Yuantian Engineering Co. Ltd.

Velasco met earlier with Chinese Commercial Counselor Jin Yuan who accompanied representatives of the three Chinese companies to present their credentials to the MWSS Technical Working Group.

In a letter to the MWSS chief, Dominguez underscored the need to immediately start the procurement process and undertake limited competitive bidding among the said Chinese companies and contractors [following applicable procedures and documents under Republic Act. No. 9184, or Government Procurement Reform Act.”

The Kaliwa dam project, which has a total cost of P18.75 billion, is situated in towns of General Nakar and Infanta in Quezon province. The project involves the construction of a dam with a discharge capacity of 600 million liters per day and a 27.7-kilometer raw water conveyance tunnel with a design capacity of 2.4 million liters per day.

According to Velasco, the Chinese government has committed P10.2 billion in official development assistance (ODA) to fund the Kaliwa dam project.

Velasco said the financing for the project would now be in the form of ODA loan, instead of a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

The MWSS is also vigorously pursuing the Laiban dam project, which is three times bigger than the Kaliwa dam, for the overall water security of Metro Manila which sources 95.6 percent of potable water requirements from Angat and Ipo dams.

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