The news reports about the death of four (4) people and the hospitalization of 200 more in Tondo, Manila due to contaminated water are greatly saddening and extremely alarming. Doctors who attended to the victims suspect a cholera outbreak via the water system in the area—an outbreak that could easily extend to other localities that are part of the same deteriorating pipe network.

Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) is directly to blame for this disaster. Its officials have been quoted in a radio interview as saying that its pipe networks in Tondo are indeed old, but that their company does not have funds to repair them. This lack of funds has been Maynilad’s perennial excuse for its terrible performance ever since it took over the concession in 1997. Its record over the last six years will show how it has failed to comply with nearly all the standards set forth in the original concession agreement: it has raised prices by 400%, failed to expand to target areas, failed to ensure 24-hour water supply to service areas, failed to reduce leaks, spillage and water theft, failed to increase water pressure and improve water quality. In December 2002 it terminated its contract, and has withheld investments since then. As a result, the conditions in its service areas in the west zone have deteriorated even further.

Yet even its clients die, fall ill, suffer water shortages, pay onerous rates and endure other abuses, Maynilad refuses to acknowledge any responsibility for the general breakdown of its operations. The closed-door arbitration process between government and Maynilad continues, still unable to establish Maynilad’s obvious role in the decline of Metro Manila’s water situation to this pathetic state.

The levels of water quality, water pressure and the extent of pipe damage are not merely technical details in the concession agreement; these are critical issues that pose grave dangers to public health. Breaches in the pipe system also have security implications in this post-9/11 era. (The unfortunate drowning of a man in a major Manila Water pipe last May illustrated the dangers of a vulnerable pipe network.) The disaster in Tondo underscores a basic reality: we cannot live without safe, clean and adequate water to drink and use.

BANTAY TUBIG condemns this reprehensible tragedy and takes Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) to task for the deaths and illness of the victims. We call on the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Health, local government units in Maynilad areas and the Metro Manila Development Authority to act immediately to avert a public health crisis. The national government, the MWSS and other architects of the water privatization policy must make Maynilad accountable for its gross neglect and impunity, and prepare to take over Maynilad areas to safeguard public welfare.

BANTAY TUBIG Network
(Philippine Water Vigilance Network)

BANTAY TUBIG Network: AKBAYAN Party-list, Alliance of Progressive Labor, CIBAC Party-list, Focus on the Global South-Philippines, Freedom from Debt Coalition, Institute for Popular Democracy, Tambuyog Development Center, Ma. Teresa Diokno-Pascual

AKBAYAN Party-list leaders today criticized the Arroyo government’s “bending over backwards” to welcome US Pres. George W. Bush. “Parang walong oras lang na stopover, O.A. (overacting) naman ang paghahanda at expectations ng gobyerno natin,” Akbayan representative Mayong Aguja noted.

Referring to the interference of the US Secret Service on Congressional arrangements in preparation for President Bush’s arrival on October 18, Aguja cited the relocation of a cafeteria in the House as indicative of the unequal relations between the US and the Philippines. “If President Arroyo were to visit the US Capitol, would the American congressmen move any of their offices to accommodate her security retinue?,” Aguja said.

Peace advocate and AKBAYAN leader Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel lamented the demolition of squatter dwellings in front of the House of Representatives. “This is very Imeldific. The Arroyo administration is going the way of the Marcoses. This reminds us of the time when Mrs. Marcos built white walls to cover squatter colonies just to impress her foreign guests.” Hontiveros-Baraquel stressed.

AKBAYAN President Ronald Llamas questioned the value of the Bush stopover on the Philippine economic climate, as claimed by President Arroyo. “Kahit buong US cabinet pa ang dumating dito, kung mali ang economic strategy, hindi aangat ang ekonomiya natin,” Llamas said. He pointed out that other Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia had better economies without being subservient US allies.

Josua Mata of the Alliance of Progressive Labor explained that a number of countries in Asia had more effective anti-terrorism campaigns even if they did not allow US troops in their territory or blindly commit to the so-called US war on terrorism. “Our government’s subservience damages our international stature. Everyone knows that our government is an American stooge pretending to be independent. Nakakahiya,” Mata said.

Aguja urged members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to wear black during the Bush address to the joint session on October 18. “By wearing black, we stand in solidarity with the victims of US aggression around the globe. This is also a statement that expresses our mourning for the sorry state of Philippine sovereignty,” Aguja concluded.

This coming October 18 the country shall be witness and a victim to the unwanted and insulting visit of US President George W. Bush, renowned butcher of Iraq, the leviathan white leader who lied to America about weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the granddaddy of terrorists and all-time warmonger and profiteer of the modern world. Quite expectedly, our very own Madame President together with her cohorts will welcome Bush like how a champion is greeted by his loyal subjects after a successful crusade against evil forces. Predictably, the Bush visit will be treated like the second coming of Christ himself, a profound visitation of “God” a miraculous rendezvous with our very own “divine-led” Ate Glo. They will talk for eight hours about nothing but increased global militarization and regimentation as a solution against “terrorism,” WTO troubleshooting through bilateral trade agreements and, of course, a tap in the back for Gloria, the United States’ leading cheerleader in Asia for her unwavering support of US policies and unilateral actions.

Meanwhile, the patriotic ranks of the working people will be guaranteed a taste of hell through possible and successive violent dispersals if they will not behave in the presence of the most powerful man in the world. The Arroyo Administration, together with the Philippine National Police (PNP), will deny our people the right to peacefully protest, assemble and register their collective sentiment but will give the Bush entourage and the US Secret Service all the freedom they need to make sure Mr. Dubya’s visit will be pleasant. Last week poor families living in shanties near Congress were forcibly demolished because the government consider them as an eyesore to the great white leader. To Gloria, this is efficient housekeeping. To the Arroyo government, this is “Filipino hospitality.” It is the act of welcoming the guest to our house while beating and evicting the residents.

To that the working people say: NO! NO WELCOME FOR GEORGE W.BUSH! NO TO GLORIA’S CURTAILMENT OF THE PEOPLES’ RIGHTS! The labor sector will not be denied of their right to protest!

Clearly, the 8-hour Bush visit will not benefit the working class in any particular way. The visit will not guarantee them more jobs, higher wages, food in the dining table, nor will it raise hopes for the many poor families living below poverty line. In fact, the visit will be highly detrimental to our interest. Bush will push for post-WTO bilateral agreements that will boost the liberalization of vital industries, trade and services that can lead to more job loss, increased contractualization and diminished wages.

Gloria kept on bragging the numerous lists of supposed benefits of furthering strong ties with the US government. However, contrary to her false claims, the relationship between the US and the Philippines historically has always been an exploitative one, with the Philippines as the perennial loser. We did not get anything from the deployment of US troops here in the Philippines or with the Powell visit. The promised 100,000 jobs for Filipinos in post-war Iraq are unfulfilled. Trade relations between US and Philippines are highly disadvantageous to our part.

Furthermore, why do we have to glorify Bush with our warm welcome if all around the globe and even in his own country the US President is scorned, ridiculed and hated for his unilateral and militarist actions? Why do we have to welcome the world’s greatest terrorist and butcher of Iraq and Afghanistan? Why do we have to give warm reception to the real coddler of the likes of Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and the Al-Qaeda group? Why do we have to roll the red carpet to the number one defender of WTO and capitalist globalization so raucously preached by Ate Glo?

The working people already have their hands full with the rubbish of Gloria. We do not need the filthy garbage truck that is George W. Bush. Now is the time to expose this false god for what he really is: A terrorist, a criminal, a murderer and lastly, a Goliath with “feet of clay”.