WATER COOPS CAN BE MORE HUMANE

I have heard complaints from water customers in Metro Manila that their water service get’s cut off right away, if they could not pay their water bills on time. No grace periods. No appeals. No nothing. Well, that may be understandable because water companies are private businesses that are answerable to their stockholders. But is there something that could still be done to remedy this problem? In another article, I wrote about the success of a water coop in Mindanao. That success proves beyond doubt that water coops could work, and if they could work in Mindanao, they could work in Metro Manila, but with some modifications. In Mindanao, the water coops were either competing with the water districts, or they were selling to the water districts. That could not happen in Metro Manila. What could happen in Metro Manila is for the water coops to become the distributors of the two water concessionaires. Give the water coops a reasonable margin, and let them sell to their own members. This is where being humane could come in. Since the coop management would certainly know their own members, they would probably know their own personal circumstances and therefore could be more lenient to them. Water is life, and people need water to survive. Although it is a commercial product, it should not be treated like any other product within the commerce of man. We should find creative ways to make it available to all. IKE SENERES/01-03-2024