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The Philippines

The much vaunted upgradation of the porous water supply system of the Manila metropolitan water and sewerage systems (mwss), suffered a setback due to a lawsuit that pointed out "serious inconsistencies' in one of the bids. According to the giant privatisation plan, two 25-year concessions to operate and upgrade the water distribution system for Manila's 10 million people would be awarded, without increasing water prices beyond the inflation rates.

The lawsuit against the mwss plan was filed by a group of people including the current and former governors of Rizal province near Manila, who claim that the concession contracts are in serious breach of the constitution of the country. Government officials admitted that since there was no precedent for the waterworks privatisation, it was vulnerable to legal action groups. Presently, less than half the water pumped into Manila's water purification plants reaches paying customers, most of it being pilfered.

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