THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said its Water Resources Management Office is in the process of reviewing water subsidies to better target low-income households.
“We want a targeted subsidy… those who are really in need of lower price of service,” Undersecretary Carlos Primo C. David said on the sidelines of a seminar hosted by Maynilad Water Services, Inc. in Quezon City on Thursday.
The concessionaires of Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Maynilad and Manila Water Co., Inc., implement a Lifeline Rate program with discounted rates for residential customers who consume 10 cubic meters or less per month.
“We used to think that if a household is low-income, water use is only minimal as they do not have washing machines, cars to clean or gardens to tend to,” Mr. David said.
“But in truth, when we did our study, it seems that many low-income households utilize more water than 10 cubic meters per month,” he added.
He said many low-income households have many users.
The push for review was based on a study of 3,000 customers of both Maynilad and Manila Water between February and March, Mr. David said.
Maynilad estimated that 25% of its billed customers avail of the Lifeline Rate. With a customer base of around 1.5 million connections, its Lifeline Rate customers would total around 375,000.
Manila Water said its Lifeline Rate customers as of May numbered 58,246 connections.
Separately, Mr. David said the National Water Resources Board approved the MWSS request for a water allocation of 52 cubic meters per second (cms) for June 16-30.
For June 1-15, the MWSS had a water allocation of 51 cms. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
