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Philippines: World Bank Funds Magdalena Water Project

by Jenny Haygood, Ibon Foundation

In the expanding regime of water privatization in the Philippines, some citizens are being forced to pay for water they cannot even drink. They must pay P20.54 per cubic meter of water they cannot drink, use for cooking, nor use for other purposes because of the health hazards it may bring. Under the old public water system, the residents used to pay only P8 per cubic meter. Now, the people have to spend precious money to buy distilled water on top of their unjust water bills.

This is the result of a World Bank Philippine rural water supply program administered through the Local Government Unit Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project (LUWSSP). The World Bank funds this project through its adaptable program loans (APL), a 12-year (1998-2010) water privatization program worth US $283 million. It intends to attract private capital in around 1,000 LGUs outside Metro Manila.

The municipality of Magdalena in the province of Laguna was among the first to avail of the World Bank loan under the LWUSSP. In 1998, the World Bank, through the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), granted the municipality of Magdalena a P24.22 million loan. When the project was completed in June 2001 the Department of Health (DOH), the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), conducted several water tests. All tests concluded the water from Magdalena’s newly constructed water system is unsafe for drinking.

Despite the proof provided by these tests, the local mayor announced on March 2, 2002 that the water from Magdalena water system was 100 percent potable. The announcement was made without a certificate of water potability. In addition, in the September 2002, the World Bank issued the newsletter In Touch, claiming that “clean, safe water” is now available 24 hours a day for folks in Magdalena.

There have been reported cases of illnesses arising from the intake of water from the new system. One such case is the daughter of Magdalena’s Vice Mayor who was hospitalized for severe stomach pain.

Another example of the hardships brought about by this program is Aling Nelia (not her real name), who has been living in the community for decades now. Aling Nelia’s husband serves in Magdalena’s municipal council. Her family consumed 15 cubic meters of water from the newly built water system and was billed P308.10. In the old water system, her family allots only a little above a hundred pesos or P120 for the same amount of water used.

“Our water expenses do not end here,” she said. “We buy distilled water at P48 per gallon. We consume this for only two days. We buy water for cleaning and cooking from the vendors at P6 per gallon. In January we spent P1,748.10 for our water consumption alone. This adds to my headaches. Budgeting our expenses is hard as it is. It is ridiculous to be paying so much for water we cannot even drink.” According to some children interviewed, they would often hear their parents argue over the payment of bills. Indeed, one of the more pressing concerns of households, especially the women who are often responsible for budgeting the family’s income, is the cost of everyday living.

At this time of continuing economic hardships and deepening poverty among the rural and urban poor Filipinos, added costs to services that used to be accessed for free or subsidized by the government add to the burden of households whose incomes barely meet the family’s basic needs. 

There is a big difference between the government supplying the basic needs of the people and private corporations taking over the provision of these basic human rights. The former is morally bound to provide such basic needs as water to its constituents, not because of the returns it can gain but because of its mandated Constitutional task. On the other hand, private firms are after the maximum profits they can gain without much care as to whether or not the people can still afford to access the service or whether what they provide is acceptable or not.

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