Maynilad, Manila Water probing bill complaints | ABS-CBN

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Maynilad, Manila Water probing bill complaints

Maynilad, Manila Water probing bill complaints

ABS-CBN News

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Updated Jul 30, 2020 07:53 AM PHT

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MANILA — Manila Water Co and Maynilad Water Services Inc said Thursday they were investigating customer complaints on bills during the pandemic lockdown.

Manila Water, which has some 1 million customers on the east side of Metro Manila, received 7,900 complaints. Out of this figure, investigators so far found that 6,000 bills reflected the actual water consumption, said corporate communications head Jeric Sevilla.

“Lahat po ng tinatanggap nating complaints ay talaga pong iniimbestigahan natin,” he told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.

“Binabasa pong muli ang metro at kung kinakailangan ay i-test po ang metro sa harap ng kustomer natin para malaman po natin kung depektibo o hindi,” he added.

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(We investigate all complaints. We re-read the meter and if needed, we test it in front of the customer so we could know if it’s defective or not.)

Only 57 bills had to be adjusted, some due to defective meters, which Manila Water replaced for free, he said.

“Napakaliit po ng porsyento talaga noong mga bills po na kailangan itama dahil majority po, halos 99 percent po ng mga bills na ipinadala natin ay tama,” Sevilla said.

(The percentage of bills we have to correct is very small because majority, almost 99 percent of the bills we send are correct.)

Maynilad, on the other had, received 7,817 complaints on water bills, which is equal to about 0.53 percent of its 1.47 million customers in the west side of Metro Manila, said business area spokesperson Engr. Zmel Grabillo.

Out of these complaints, Maynilad has explained to customers that 4,921 bills reflected their actual water use, he said.

Consumption could have increased because the lockdown confined more people to their homes. Water that used to be consumed at the workplace or schools were used in houses, said Grabillo.

Water use also typically spikes during March to May, he said.

Maynilad customers can pay their bills on an installment basis or ask for an extension on the Sept. 30 leeway that regulators set, Grabillo said.

“Hindi kami agad-agad magpapatupad ng pagpuputol [ng linya],” he said.

(We won’t immediately cut water service.)

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Marcos says P200 across-the-board wage hike needs further study

Marcos says P200 across-the-board wage hike needs further study

Pia Gutierrez,

ABS-CBN News

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The LRT-2 Araneta Center-Cubao station takes in passengers. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN NewsThe LRT-2 Araneta Center-Cubao station takes in passengers. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said a proposed P200 across-the-board daily wage hike for workers needs further study to see how it would affect small businesses and possibly drive prices higher.

This comes after the House Committee on Labor and Employment approved a measure that mandates “all employers in the private sector… regardless of capitalization and number of employees, to pay their workers an across-the-board wage increase of P200 a day.”

House Speaker Martin Romualdez — the President's cousin — has indicated the House may push for the increase.

House leaders last year thumbed down proposals for a legislated wage hike saying these would speed up inflation — the rate at which prices rise. They said business owners would simply pass on the cost of the higher wages to consumers by raising their prices.

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Marcos said he acknowledges the need to help ordinary workers deal with inflation but that business owners have also raised concerns about the proposed increase.

“Pag tinaas ‘yung minimum wage, mababawasan ang kanilang empleyado kasi ganoon pa rin ‘yung pera nila. Hindi naman madadagdagan ‘yung pera na pambayad nila ng suweldo,” the President said.

(If you raise the minimum wage, they will have to let go of some employees because they would have the same amount of money. They will not get additional money for the increased wages)

Marcos Jr. said the proposed measure would affect micro, small and medium enterprises — the majority of businesses registered in the Philippines — the most.

'WAGE INCREASES ARE UP TO WAGE BOARDS'

Wages in the Philippines vary by region and sector, with workers in the National Capital Region being paid the most and those in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao paid the least.

The differences in daily wages are supposed to reflect lower costs of living outside Metro Manila and to encourage investment in these areas. Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards hear and decide on petitions for wage increases.

“Well, the thing is we have a tripartite board that actually determines the increase in the wage. So, we have to still  — we still have to study it further to see how that will work together," he said.

“We will try to resolve that because, as you know, it’s very clear that tumataas ang bilihin, nandiyan pa rin ang inflation. Hindi pa natin nasusugpo nang mabuti — nang kumpleto (It's very clear that prices are rising, we have not addressed it well — completely)."

Aside from wage board orders and legislated hikes, workers can also push for higher wages through collective negotiation through unions and similar workers' associations.

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