PUBLIC ACCESS

The United Nations measures success and failure of local governance in terms of access to public services and utilities. According to one school of thought, public safety is the number one concern of local governance, but this is of course debatable, because the interpretation would depend on local values, cultures and expectations. In recent times however, some issues have emerged, in effect questioning what ought to be considered as “public services”. This too is debatable, because the interpretation would also depend on what is locally fundable, deliverable and sustainable.

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The water service provider in one part of Metro Manila has recently announced that the quality of water that is now available on tap in their service areas is already comparable to bottled water. This is very welcome news, assuming that it is 100% true, but this bit of good news opens up the issue of regulating water companies or issuing quality standards, to ensure that the general population would really gain access to clean potable water from their taps, thus eliminating the need to buy bottled water.

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As I see it, access to potable water is poverty related issue, because the poor do not have access to this life sustaining resource, they would be forced to buy bottled water, notwithstanding the fact that it is clearly a burden that they could not afford. Over the years, those who could afford it have gotten used to buying bottled water, to the point that it has become a way of life for many households. Having been used to it, those who could afford to buy this resource have practically resigned to the idea that there is no other way of having access to clean potable water, except to buy it, just like their having accepted the fact that there is no other way to gain access to cooking gases except to buy these in liquid petroleum gas (LPG) containers.

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I find it ironic that when Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) systems were put into place, most people considered it as a jump into modernization, since the two systems appeared to be using modern technologies. Unknown to most people perhaps, the LRT and MRT systems are really just “cable cars” in the strict sense of the word, meaning to say that these trains are not much different from the “tranvias” that used to be operated by what was then known as the Manila Electric & Rail Company (MERALCO). Until now, it still makes sense for an electric service provider to also operate a cable car system, because the two services are very much logically compatible with each other.

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Certainly there is no point in crying over spilled milk, but I really would like to know what happened to the gas distribution network of the Manila Gas Company. Until now, it still makes a lot of sense to distribute fuels via gas lines, because of the economies of scale involved. And mind you, these fuels are not just for cooking, because up to now, gas lines power the street lights in many cities around the world, economically I should say, comparing it of course to the electricity powered street lights.

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With a mix of desperation and amusement, many writers have noted the shift in consumer preferences towards products packed in sachets, a behavior that is obviously motivated by the fact that these smaller packs are more affordable to most consumers. In truth and in fact however, the unit costs of these products in sachets are actually more expensive than the costs of products that are packaged in bigger containers, a reality that is due also to economies of scale.

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I have purposely not mentioned the name of the water company that has boldly made the quality claim, because the other company in the other part of the metropolis has not said anything in response. I will eventually mention the name as soon as I get a better reading of the competitive situation in this service industry. In my view, it is better to assist water companies that are experiencing difficulties in their delivery, rather than to blame them, because the bottom line really is to improve access for all.

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Since we now know that a water service provider could possibly attain the quality of bottled water, perhaps it is time that the government would issue standards that would make it mandatory to give access to this higher quality of water nationwide, so that everyone, including the poor would not have to spend their hard earned money on this resource that is now considered as a luxury. While we are at it, perhaps it is also high time for the government to study how the other utilities could be regulated so that their providers would be forced to deliver these factors in more affordable price levels.