MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / July 30, 2013) – A Filipino youth group has criticized President Benigno Aquino for defending hefty bonuses that executives of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System or MWSS.
“The Aquino administration’s sympathies for the rich is clearly shown, not just by its support for the overcharging of consumers done by MWSS concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad, but also by its 180 degree turn-around regarding the fat bonuses of MWSS officials,” Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of the youth group Anakbayan, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda defended yearly bonuses of several MWSS officials amounting to half a million pesos each, a total reversal from Aquino’s position in his 2010 State of the Nation Address where he condemned such practices.
“Did Aquino change his position because it is now his men sitting in the MWSS? Is it because his anti-corruption stance a mere gimmick and deodorizer for his SONAs? Crisostomo asked.
He compared Aquino’s stance on the multi-million peso bonuses with the Palace’s statement defending the overcharging done by MWSS concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water against their consumers.
The two concessionaires were the target of severe public anger in the past two months with the surfacing of revelations that the two charged consumers for their income taxes and other expenses outside of the usual maintenance and operating expenses. Consumer rights groups estimate that customers paid P15.2 billion in the concessionaires’ income taxes from 2008 to 2012.
“While the ordinary Filipino bears the burden of overpriced water in the National Capital Region, MWSS big shots take home big money, and Aquino’s political donors in Manila Water and Maynilad make a killing in profits” Crisostomo said.
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