LWUA does its share in nation building

by Administrator Lorenzo H. Jamora
Local Water Utilities Administration
Quezon City, Philippines

Excerpts from the speech of Administrator Lorenzo Jamora on occassion of the 72nd aniversary of the Rotary Club of Iloilo held on July 1, 2005 at the Hotel del Rio, Iloilo City, Philippines.

Thank you to RCI past President Romeo Aquino for the kind introduction. I would like to assure you my dear friend that should I be drafted in the senatorial slate in the next elections, you will be my top choice as general campaign manager.
I understand most of you expect to hear some good and bad news from Manila. Well, you won’t be frustrated because in truth I have long dropped the habit of delivering brief remarks. And for this very special occasion marking the 72nd anniversary of our club, I have prepared a two-hour speech.

On the bad news. The political opposition has to wait for year 2010 before they can make another try at the Presidency.
Levity aside, I think it is also my duty as a national government official to help in assuring our people that the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stands on solid ground despite efforts of the political opposition and some left-leaning radical groups to have it destabilized.

We are fortunate that as a democracy, each one is accorded the chance to air his or her views or even mobilize people to go on protest marches.

The President has also apologized for the lapse in judgement she made during the last elections, so we must join hands with her and move on.

What I can tell you right now is that - the Arroyo administration is very focused in achieving its 10-point agenda laid out no less by Her Excellency during her inaugural state of the nation address or SONA last year. No amount of protest rallies can get her off from this agenda which she intends to accomplish during her six-year term.

As a people, I think the time has come for us to lessen or reduce our political intake, so to speak. Because of too much politics our growth as a nation has been slowed down. Perhaps, we should stop political bickerings as soon as the winners are proclaimed after an election.

Either we or they like it or not, Mrs. Arroyo is our President. So, for the good of the country, it is my view that we should support the President.

Now, let me discuss the achievements of LWUA under my stewardship. When I came in 2001, the agency was among the poor performing government financial institutions or GFIs/GOCC. LWUA is considered a GFI or Government Owned and Controlled Corporation because its main mandate is to make funds available for the development, upgrading or expansion of the so called water districts. It is now on its 32nd year of service to an estimated 12 million citizens in various urban centers and developing areas of the country.

Water Districts are localized government corporations which are autonomous in nature and operations but under continuing guidance of the national government through LWUA which provide or facilitate financial packages and assists in their institutional development. LWUA is responsible in creating this water districts, then assist them in formulating management plans and programs. LWUA also provides technical assistance for project developments of the water districts.

Friends, in 2001 LWUA was in bad financial shape that my top priority then was to reverse the losing trend. Loan availments for various projects was only P642 million. Collection of interest and principal payments from loans granted to various water districts was only P860 million. The previous year 2000, collection was only a little over P600 million.
In 2002, marked improvements were achieved. For instance, cash collections increased to P933 million and in 2003, LWUA was able to collect P1.096 billion. These we attained through increased efficiency in the operations of water districts by way of LWUA giving them training assistance, water rate review, installation of commercial systems or corporate practices, and better monitoring on the use of non-revenue water. Non-revenue water are those supplied for free through the public or community faucets.

Notwithstanding the fiscal crisis that hounded the country during the last few years, at LWUA, we were able to post a positive financial picture. The government’s provincial water supply development agenda got much needed boost in 2004 with the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) registering record highs of P2.4 billion in water project disbursements and Pl.3 billion in loan collection from beneficiary water districts.

These accomplishments show that continuous public sector investment in viable water supply projects remains the surest and most sustainable approach to increasing access to safe, affordable and reliable water service by the Filipinos especially in the countryside.

In 2004, LWUA was able to invest the record-high additional P2.4 billion for provincial water projects nationwide through the massive utilization of foreign official development assistance (ODA) funds amounting to P1.6 billion that was made possible by the agency’s aggressive sourcing of the required P800 million local counterpart and equity funding for said projects.

The release of the second tranche of the peso loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) totaling to about P500 million and advanced loan payments from water districts amounting to Pl29 million had been of great help in raising the needed local counterpart. Last year’s project disbursements surpassed the PI.6 billion and P1.2 billion project disbursements registered in 2003 and 2002 respectively.

Prior to 2001, LWUA had been hard-pressed to hit the PI billion-mark. Significantly, this improvement has not gone unnoticed with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) citing LWUA among the few government agencies that are most efficient in the utilization of ODA funds for their development projects.

LWUA was able to collect a record Pl.3 billion in loan interest and principal payments from various water districts in the country that have benefited from the agency’s development assistance program. Last year’s loan collection performance also topped the previous best of PI.1 billion posted by LWUA in 2003, the first time the agency managed to breach the PI billion-mark in loan collection since it started operation as a specialized lending agency for provincial water supply by virtue of PD 198, as amended in 1973. Due to its improving financial operations, LWUA has likewise been cited by the Department of Finance (DOF) as among the few “truly earning government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs)”..
LWUA gains were also posted in other major areas of the Agency’s operation notably in loan-lending where it granted an additional P1.27 billion to finance proposed water system improvement and or expansion projects.

Meanwhile, an additional 250,000 people residing in the countryside were given direct access to piped potable water supply last year with the completion by the government through the LWUA of 41 water system improvement and expansion projects in as many provincial areas worth a combined P685 million.

The 41 projects completed last year were distributed throughout the country with South Luzon accounting for the biggest in term of number of projects completed at 14 and total project cost at P280.5 million followed by the Visayas with ten and P212.8 million total project cost. North Luzon has seven completed projects worth a combined PI04.6 million and Mindanao also had ten completed projects amounting to PI01.78 million.

LWUA shall continue to strive in sustaining these development efforts as the agency’s lion share in the fulfillment of one of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s avowed legacy programs, that of providing safe potable water to every barangay in the country by 2010.

This year is foreseen to be banner year for LWUA and the provincial water sector because of the resumption of national government funding support for still pending water projects. These projects started last December with the release by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) of funds amounting to P194.357 million representing subsidy support for projects approved since calendar year 2000.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to take this opportunity also to inform you that as of May 2005, LWUA completed projects in 21 water districts with combined budget of P 485.796 million.

In addition, LWUA has 57 ongoing projects in various parts of the country with a total fund allocation amounting to P 1.338 billion.

Not only that, for the second half of 2005, LWUA under the Arroyo administration will start work on 60 more water districts in various parts of the country amounting to a total of PI.033 billion broken down as follows: Northern Luzon - P460.036 million; Southern Luzon - PI05.82 million; Visayas - P228.545 million; and Mindanao-P238.677 million.

So, you see there should be no doubt that President Arroyo is determined in achieving her 10-point agenda by the end of her term in the year 2010. There was no President ever in the history of our century-old country who pursued vital programs as vigorously as President Arroyo.

And tonight I only talk of the administration’s programs and fund allocation for the development of water resources all over the Philippines. All the other government agencies are also undertaking various projects in pursuit to the target of completing the 10-point development agenda of the President.

Lastly, let me also inform you that the Arroyo administration is in the final process of streamlining the bureaucracy as mandated in various executive orders she issued last year.

For the part of LWUA, we are determined to trim down its present manpower by 40% by the end of this year. This means that out of our 687 personnel compliment we will be retiring 275 officers and employees. The agency will retain 412 employees, including one who is before you tonight.

But we will not be driving away these retrenched personnel like excess baggage. Instead, we will be providing these 275 personnel with an attractive retirement package estimated to cost some P350 million. And with the retirement package, LWUA is also ready to have them undergo an exit program aimed at preparing them to become smart small and medium scale entrepreneurs.

We view the retirement package for our 275 personnel as a government dispersal of capital for the countryside. So in effect, they will not actually become retirees but new entrants or participants into the business sector.

Friends, again thank you and good evening!