Press Release
April 14, 2009

REVILLA OPPOSES MAYNILAD'S ILLEGAL PROJECT

Senate Committee on Public Services Chairman Bong Revilla today strongly denounced Maynilad Water Services Inc.'s plan to excavate 5.5 kilometers along Aguinaldo Highway in Bacoor to lay new pipes for its customers, which according to Maynilad, will begin on April 15 and will last up to October.

Revilla, also Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works discovered that Maynilad intends to push through with their works even if they have not yet obtained an excavation permit from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

According to Revilla, the traffic problem this will cause to the more than 3,000,000 residents of Cavite who utilize the road section will be enormous. "This section of the Aguinaldo Highway is the gateway to and from Cavite. If they begin their works without a clear traffic plan that will address its effects, we will see an unprecedented traffic problem," said Revilla.

"This is why I urge Maynilad to postpone and reconsider its plan. While we recognize the importance of providing safe potable water to the public, we must first ensure that its adverse effects are properly addressed," the senator added.

Revilla said he wants Maynilad to postpone the project until the completion of Molino Boulevard and the Coastal Road extension so that there are viable alternate routes that are capable of carrying the traffic volume. "The alternate routes being offered by Maynilad clearly cannot sustain the traffic volume. These are internal roads that will surely not be capable of carrying almost 100,000 vehicles a day. If the project needs to be started immediately, then Maynilad must first obtain the necessary permits for the appropriate government agencies, and after that, they should, in coordination with the LGUs, first hold a dry run of their proposed alternate routes."

The lawmaker also said that as Chairman of the Committee on Public Services, he will be reviewing the franchise of Maynilad to find means to prevent the haphazard implementation of projects by public utilities without proper coordination with Local Government Units and government agencies to the detriment of the public.

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