NAIS ni Pangulong Duterte na tanggapin ng Maynilad at Manila Water ang isang bagong kontrata kung ayaw ng mga ito na makansela ang concession agreement sa pamahalaan.
Sa isang briefing, sinabi ni Presidential Spokesperson at Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo na ito ang naging atas ni Duterte matapos pulungin ang mga miyembro ng Gabinete sa Malacanang nitong Lunes.
“The Chief Executive is giving the water concessionaires the option of accepting the new contracts minus the onerous provisions without any guarantee of not being criminally prosecuted together with those who conspired to craft the very onerous contracts which are as we have many times said and as the President described it void ab initio or void from the very beginning for violating the Constitution and the laws of the land,” sabi ni Panelo.
Idinagdag ni Panelo na nakahanda si Duterte na ipag-utos ang agarang kontrata sa dalawang water concessionaires sakaling hindi pumayag sa isang bagong kasunduan.
“The President will order the cancellation of their present water contracts, order the nationalization of water services in their respective areas of operation and prosecute all those involved directly or indirectly in the arrangement that led to the present suffering of the Filipino people.m,” ayon pa kah Panelo.
Ayon pa kay Panelo, matagal nang lugi ang mga Pinoy sa sobra-sobrang paniningil ng Maynilad at Manila Water.
“And as the President previously uttered in righteous indignation and outrage to them, and I quote him: ‘If you will not give justice to the Filipino people, I will get it for them.‘ There is a time for reckoning and that time has come,” sabi pa Panelo.