MWSS paranoia keeps Laiban
documents under ‘lock and key’

by Roel Landingin and Ed Lingao

IT’S NO BIG wonder that even the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) cannot get a copy of the proposed or negotiated joint venture agreement (JVA) between the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and food-beverage giant San Miguel Corp. on the P52-billion Laiban dam.

Quite literally, according to a consultant of San Miguel, the MWSS’s copy of the document is being held under “lock and key” in a room from which it cannot be taken out.

“Authorized people can come and take a look but they cannot copy it or take it out,” the consultant says.

The extreme measures to restrict access to San Miguel’s unsolicited proposal stem mainly from the confidentiality agreement that MWSS signed with San Miguel.

Call it paranoia but the consultant adds that the excess of secrecy feeds as well on the festering suspicion by MWSS officials that outside parties with vested interests have infiltrated the state water agency.

“There are forces within MWSS fighting for different stakeholders and companies,” the consultant reveals. “Elements in their own management will grab the opportunity to share the documents with their benefactors.”
Yet, while the measures restricting access to the documents may have helped MWSS comply with its confidentiality agreement with San Miguel, they have also strained relations with the NEDA.

For weeks now, the NEDA representative in the MWSS joint venture selection committee has sought to secure a copy of the JVA with San Miguel so he may proceed with a thorough evaluation of the deal. The MWSS has rebuffed the request.

As a result, the NEDA representative saw it fit not to sign the committee resolution that recommended to the MWSS board of trustees approval of the JVA.

NEDA, truth be told, has more questions and concerns about the agreement that have gone unresolved. Foremost of these is the status of a proposed “take or pay” scheme in the JVA that would require the MWSS or the two private water concessionaires to pay for minimum volume of raw water whether or not it is used.

In NEDA’s opinion, a “take or pay” scheme between San Miguel and MWSS is tantamount to a government guarantee, which is disallowed for unsolicited proposals. The MWSS’s legal counsel insists it is not a guarantee.

Because no other parties submitted counter-bids within the July 8, 2009 deadline of the MWSS, it’s almost a cinch that the water agency may award the project to San Miguel that is charting a strategic shift from food and beverage to heavy industries.

The secrecy, haste and now paranoia that mark the tender of the project, the MWSS’s biggest in its 131-year history, has triggered more complications. Several senators and congressmen have called for an investigation of the deal with San Miguel. At the same time, environment groups have urged the water agency to put the project on hold.

However, to counter the growing public reaction to the project, the MWSS is finally breaking its silence and reportedly plans to hold a press conference this week.

To take up the cudgels for the MWSS, Administrator Diosdado Jose Allado is cutting short his confinement in a hospital where he is being treated for pneumonia.

But Allado may have a lot of catching up to do. Since last week, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has run a series of reports on the Laiban dam project that revealed the rush and the secrecy that mark the MWSS’s invitation for alternative bids.

The MWSS gave potential bidders only five working days to initiate a challenge and just a month to submit a proposal. This week, the PCIJ also reported that MWSS has refused to give the NEDA a copy of its negotiated joint venture agreement with San Miguel, and that the NEDA representative to the joint venture selection committee has not signed the resolution recommending approval of the deal.

By phone, fax and email, the PCIJ has persistently tried but failed to get documents and comments on the Laiban dam project but the concerned MWSS officials were supposedly on sick leave, on leave for other reasons, not in the office, or simply unavailable or unprepared to talk.