Water concessionaires to be accorded due process

MANILA, Philippines — Water concessionaires would be given due process, Malacañang said yesterday, after President Duterte had threatened to order the arrest of the owners of water firms and to detain them indefinitely if they try to stop him from probing their deals. 

Last Friday, Duterte said he is ready to send the owners of water firms Manila Water and Maynilad to jail over their concession contracts with the government, which he described as the “biggest rip-off of all.” 

The President warned the owners of the water distributors not to go to courts to stop him from seeking new concession deals or he would have them arrested “one night.” He also threatened to emulate the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and detain the water firm owners as long as he wants to. Hundreds of personalities perceived to be threats to Marcos were arrested during Martial Law in 1972. 

But presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo clarified that the owners of water utilities would only be arrested if there is probable cause against them. 

“What the President meant was everyone who should be charged would be charged. If there is probable cause then the court can issue a warrant of arrest. They would be jailed. But everything will undergo legal processes,” Panelo said in a radio interview. 

“That is on the assumption that there is warrant of arrest. There were instances before that people with warrants of arrest were not arrested because they were close to law enforcement, to the President. This time, it won’t happen,” he said. 

Asked to explain Duterte’s statement that he would emulate Marcos, Panelo said the President may just be emphasizing that he has the political will to run after those who violated the law. 

Duterte has accused Manila Water and Maynilad of using their concession contracts to “milk” Filipinos “by the billions” and has threatened to file graft, plunder, and economic sabotage charges against their owners and state lawyers behind the deals.

He has also ordered agencies to draft new water contracts and to ensure that they are advantageous to the public.