Int’l tribunal orders Philippine gov’t to pay Manila Water P7.4-B

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Water Company Inc. said Friday it won in a legal battle against the Philippine government after a Singapore-based arbitration panel ordered the state to compensate the Ayala-led utility company for losses it suffered from the non-implementation of water rate hikes.

The international tribunal ordered the government to reimburse to Manila Water P7.4 billion, which represents the actual losses it suffered from June 1, 2015 until Nov. 22, 2019.

The government was also directed to pay 100% of the amounts paid by Manila Water to the Permanent Court of Arbitration and 85% of the utility company’s other claimed costs.

“Manila Water will work with the Republic for an orderly and managed satisfaction of the Award,” the company said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

Manila Water decided to sue the government after regulator Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System rejected the east zone concessionaire’s request for a water rate hike to help offset corporate income tax. 

In 2013, MWSS ordered Manila Water to lower rates. The regulator argued that CIT is not supposed to be recoverable because the concessionaire is a public utility. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral with a report from The STAR/Louise Maureen Simeon