Manila Water seals P500M loan for Boracay project
BY MYLA IGLESIAS / Malaya

Manila Water Co. said it has closed a P500 million loan for the financing of its capital expenditure program for its Boracay water concession.

The company said unit Boracay Water Co. Inc tapped the Philippine Water Revolving Fund (PWRF) of the Development Bank of the Philippines for the loan.

The PWRF is a collaborative undertaking of the Philippine government, the US Agency for International Development and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to address the need to mobilize additional and sustainable resources to meet the country’s Millennium Development Goals.

This deal is the first and the biggest loan provided by the PWRF to a private company from the water sector.

Manila Water said that the loan will provide it with the necessary financial support and flexibility to support key projects such as network improvement and expansion to achieve 100 percent water coverage by 2014 and 100 percent sewerage coverage by 2018.

Since taking over the island’s water and wastewater operations on Jan. 1, 2010, Boracay Water has brought down water losses significantly from 37 percent to 24 percent and increased water pressure from 15 psi to an average of 30 psi, resulting in the provision of water supply 24 hours a day, seven days a week to 96 percent of the island’s population.

Recently, Boracay Water upgraded the island’s Sewage Treatment Plant to boost wastewater treatment capacity by 250 percent (from 2.6 million liters per day to 6.5 million liters per day.)

This has allowed the company to achieve environmental compliance four years ahead of the concession target, effectively reversing the island’s water pollution challenges. Since the STP upgrade, the treated water released from the facility to Balabag beach has been safe for swimming and aquatic life.