The core and peripheral networks

At the core of the Metro Manila sewerage network is the service delivery network. The central actors in the network are the two private concessionaires, Maynilad and Manila Water, which are contractually obliged to implement sewerage projects towards providing 100% sewerage coverage for the service area by the end of the CA in 2037.

Also, part of the core network is the financial institutions, such as commercial banks and the World Bank. Financing was the main constraint that prompted the Philippine

government to privatise the MWSS and private capital was the air that resuscitated the then-ailing MWSS. Today, financing is no longer a big issue. There is no shortage of financing sources for the two concessionaires as both concessionaires are part of the biggest conglomerates in the Philippines and possess good credit standing. Many of the water supply projects are financed through commercial bank loans. Sewerage

infrastructure, on the other hand, is more expensive to construct and maintain but willingness to pay by consumers is low. Since interests from loans cannot be recovered from the tariff and interests from commercial banks are usually higher, financing by multilateral development banks is usually the route taken to finance sewerage projects. Concessionaires prefer multilateral development banks due to low interest rates and a longer repayment period (PC-2014-004).

The core network also includes partners and suppliers of the concessionaires, such as landowners, contractors and other utility providers. The concessionaires need land for the construction of STPs. Republic Act No. 9275 otherwise known as the Clean Water Act specifically directed LGUs to appropriate land in their jurisdiction for this purpose18 _{but in}

the event that the LGUs cannot provide lands, the concessionaires would have to purchase from private landowners (PC-2014-004) (Baffrey & Adis 2012; Tetra Tech & Berkman 2013). The concessionaires also have to coordinate directly with other utility companies to ensure that the sewage pipe network will not damage other existing underground

installations. Above ground, the concessionaires also need electricity lines to power the STP (PC-2014-003).

The peripheral network of the Metro Manila sewerage networks can be categorised into sectoral, jurisdictional and functional networks. Sewerage and sanitation has always been appended to the broader water governance sector. These are mostly the same agencies

18 _{Section 7 of Republic Act No. 9275 entitled ‘An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Water Quality Management} and for Other Purposes enacted on 22 March 2004.

that comprise the peripheral network of the sewerage sector in Metro Manila. The private sector as the service provider has to work with all these organisations across sectors, jurisdictions and functions as each one has a stake in water and sewerage management.

Sewerage service is a vital public service that impacts on other sectoral policy concerns, particularly on the environment, health, and infrastructure planning and development. The first sectoral network is the environment network. Sanitation and wastewater, if not managed safely and properly, can have disastrous effects not only on the environment but on human health. The organisations in this network formulate policies to protect the environment, particularly water bodies, and set and enforce the standards for treatment and disposal of wastewater and sludge to prevent, control and abate pollution. The health network is where policies, technical standards and guidelines on sanitation and wastewater management are formulated to ensure that these facilities will prevent the outbreak and spread of diseases among the population. Construction of sewerage infrastructure is regulated by legal standards on building and maintaining safe and sustainable structures in the urban setting. These legal standards are formulated and enforced by the infrastructure planning and development network.

There are three jurisdictional levels of governance that are involved in the Metro Manila sewerage network: the national, regional and local governments. At the vertical level, the national government through its departments and their attached agencies sets policies and formulates and enforces regulatory standards. The local government, on the other hand, implements these policies and sometimes issues additional local ordinances, as well as regulates the construction of STPs in their jurisdiction through the issuance of permits and clearances. Across the horizontal level, national government agencies have to work with each other to ensure that the different sectoral concerns of sewerage services are consistent with each other. LGUs also work with each other particularly when a sewage project traverses multiple localities. At the regional level, the MMDA ensures the integration and coordination of metro-wide services such as sewage treatment.

The national government is traditionally organised by sectoral concerns. The different functional areas of sewerage and sewerage-related activities are spread across different agencies, such as policy formulation, project planning and implementation, service delivery, project monitoring and evaluation. Project planning and implementation, and service delivery are functions of the core network. Under the functional sub-network are the policy- setting and the monitoring and evaluation functions. Policy setting on matters relating to sewerage infrastructure is the function of the National Economic Development Authority

(NEDA) and DPWH. The NEDA is the lead national agency responsible in ensuring that the socio-economic policies, plans, programs and projects of different government agencies, such as infrastructure development, are consistent with established national priorities at both the national and regional levels prior to their adoption. The Clean Water Act of 2004 decreed the formulation of a national strategy to revive and rehabilitate the country’s surface water by sanctioning all highly urbanised cities in the country to provide sewerage and septage services. The formulation of this national strategy was vested in NEDA.

The function of monitoring and evaluation of sewerage projects is implemented in three different modes: customer satisfaction administered by the concessionaires, regulatory monitoring by MWSS-RO and sectoral interagency monitoring undertaken by the Manila Bay Advisory Committee (MBAC). The first two are undertaken in the core network. Under the peripheral network, the MBAC, a separate monitoring body was created to monitor all activities for the rehabilitation, restoration and conservation of Manila Bay. The

concessionaires are part of this network because all treated wastewater is disposed of into Metro Manila’s estuaries, canals and rivers, which eventually empty into Manila Bay.