Major roads in Metro Manila, including EDSA, Commonwealth Ave., Roxas Blvd., Alabang Zapote Road, and C5, will be dug up all at the same time before the end of the year to comply with a Supreme Court ruling to accelerate sewerage connections.
Around 1,000 kilometers of primary and secondary Metro Manila roads and those in surrounding areas like Cavite will also be covered.
The Supreme Court ruling last August penalized Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water P912 million each for not finishing their sewerage projects by May 2009 under the Clean Water Act and, moving forward, imposed a fine of P322,102 every day until they have complied.
“They have no choice but to comply but that means catastrophe for us, the public, businesses, and the economy. Traffic will be so snarled nothing will move. The worst part here is that the ruling will benefit no one,” bK3 convenor Louie Monetmar said.
Jobs will be lost as businesses and the economy shrink, it added.
“Kulelat na naman ang Pilipinas all because this ruling refused to honor an earlier Supreme Court ruling in 2011 allowing the two companies to comply up to 2037, instead of 2009. The 2011 ruling recognized that the 2009 deadline was impractical and impossible to meet,” Montemar said.
There were, for instance, preparatory work government agencies had to deliver before the two concessionaires could do their sewerage work, but the agencies all failed to deliver.
One requirement was for the public works department to do a national plan to coordinate the program and set priorities. Local governments in Metro Manila were also required to provide land.
“Without a plan and land, how can one build?” it said.
The 2037 deadline will avoid the chaos and all the unnecessary pain and must therefore be followed, it said. “It is the Solomonic decision. The August 2019 decision has zero benefit.”
The conflicting decisions and deadlines involve basically just one section of the law, Sec. 8. The 2037 deadline stemmed from a case to clean up Manila Bay. It amended and extended in effect the five-year deadline.
The August 2019 decision stemmed from a complaint filed by DENR under now Party-list Rep. Joselito Atienza accusing the MWSS and the two concessionaires for failure to meet the five-year deadline.
