The government was not trying to take water concessionaires Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Co. Inc. out of the picture, and will honor the current contract “with no significant changes,” Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) administrator Emmanuel Salamat said on Wednesday.

“What we’re trying to do here is to make a new contract to be implemented after 2022 without the onerous provisions,” Salamat said.

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In a Malacañang briefing, Salamat said the original contract with the two water firms that ends in 2022 was still existing, and that what had been revoked was its extension to 2037.

New contract

Salamat said it was up to the Department of Justice to draft the new contract that President Duterte had ordered drawn up without what he said were onerous provisions.

“As far as the MWSS is concerned, our role is to implement what has been agreed upon with the two parties … and make sure we have a good understanding (of) how this agreement should be observed until it lapses (in) 2022,” Salamat said, addressing concerns that the government was not honoring contracts it had entered into.

Salamat said the review of the contract would have an impact on the country’s loan from China for the construction of the Kaliwa Dam, since the government needs “the commitment of the two concessionaires to share their obligation (in) the payment of the loans.”

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