IN BRIEF

Groups ask gov’t to lift limits on motorcycle taxis

TRANSPORT groups over the weekend asked the government to remove the limits on the number of motorcycle taxis to provide commuters with a convenient transportation alternative amid the poor mass transportation infrastructure.

CitizenWatch Philippines, Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada, Kuryente and The Passenger Forum said in separate statements removing the limit on MTs would serve the interests of millions of commuting Filipinos while providing livelihood for thousands of qualified drivers and their dependents.

Former Quezon City Rep. and now CitizenWatch Philippines co-convenor Atty. Kit Belmonte said that because of the absence of adequate mass transportation systems to serve a growing Filipino population, “millions of commuters are plagued by the daily distress of having to fall in line for hours, squeeze themselves in packed modes of transportation or resort to illegal transport options, just to get home to their families after a hard day’s work.”

Belmonte said the shortage of options “resulted in the proliferation of illegal habal-habals, which are being patronized by desperate commuters.”

“Because they are unregulated, the drivers of habal-habal do not have proper training and they do not have accident insurance,” Belmonte said.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Maynilad spending P16.5b to further cut water losses

WEST zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. is spending around P16.5 billion from 2023 to 2027 to further reduce its water losses, a top executive said over the weekend.

“We have dedicated more resources toward the reduction of losses so we can speed up water volume recovery in time for El Niño. We hope that we continue to get the support of the relevant government agencies and local government units in facilitating the release of permits and other requirements needed for our NRW projects,” said Maynilad chief operating officer Randolph Estrellado.

The bigger share of P10 billion will go to pipe replacement projects throughout its concession area over the five-year period, with majority of the projects to be undertaken in Manila, Quezon City and Caloocan. Most of the pipelines in these areas are aging and should be replace soon, the company said.

Maynilad said it would use the remaining P5.84 billion for the meter management projects, establishment of smaller District Metered Areas, leak repairs and diagnostic activities as well as leak detection equipment and technical services.

The company’s pipe replacement program significantly reduced non-revenue water to 43 percent in 2022 from 68 percent in 2006, translating to 413 million liters per day of water recovered. Othel V. Campos

Gov’t agencies issue rules on electricity lifeline rate

THE Department of Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development issued a tripartite advisory to distribution utilities for the implementation of the lifeline rate.

The agencies ordered the DUs to immediately implement the disqualification of those who are not qualified to avail of the lifeline rate under Rule 6, Section 6 of the Lifeline implementing rules and regulations.

Those living in condominiums or subdivision projects, except those residing in government housing projects and similar projects, those who are availing net-metering services, those whose consumption falls at or below the consumption threshold but are not considered qualified marginalized end-users, and those who are convicted with finality for violating AntiPilferage of Electricity and Theft of Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Act of 1994 would be disqualified from availing the lifeline rate. The DUs were also directed to start the acceptance and processing of applications from consumers seeking to avail of the lifeline rate program. DUs are expected to complete the processing of the applications on or before Aug. 1, 2023. Alena Mae S. Flores

DOE prepares offshore wind guidelines

THE Department of Energy is firming up the guidelines for the issuance of offshore wind energy service contracts in the next two months following the industry consultations.

DOE assistant secretary Mylene Capongcol said they needed to update the draft OSWESC guidelines, taking into account additional inputs from the private sector and other agencies.

“The detailed guidelines on offshore wind developments can be issued in two months. We are having a deep study on the timelines or the development activities because we adapted the onshore technology for the issuance of the contract based on the current guidelines,” Capongcol said.

“We have done several consultations with the players as well as the government agencies, and we are planning to have a more specific timeline of development like extending the pre-development stage from five to seven [years],” she said.

Capongcol said the DOE faced challenges in finalizing the guidelines because of “so many unknowns that we are still gathering.” Alena Mae S. Flores