Manila Water on Tuesday announced it will implement a "voluntary one-time bill waiver" for all customers affected by the water supply shortage.

"[T]o help ease in some way the inconvenience we have caused...we are announcing a voluntary and one-time bill waiver scheme in March to be reflected in the April bill of our customers," Manila Water president and chief executive officer Ferdinand dela Cruz said in a press briefing.

He explained they will waive the minimum charge in the bill of their customers. It is equivalent to 10 cubic meters or the March consumption which ranges from P76 to P656 per customer.

"Most customers will still have consumption above 10 cubic meters, therefore there will still be a basic charge. They will still pay, '' said dela Cruz.

The water concessionaire will also waive fees of their "most severely affected" customers for their whole March consumption.

Among those are customers who experienced no water "for 24 hours or more than a week," Dela Cruz said.

"They will not be billed for their whole water consumption for March. Those that were severely affected, we are going to waive their March consumption," he said.

Dela Cruz also said their 8 to 12 hour water availability has reached 97 percent, reporting a decrease in numbers of hard-hit areas.

"From a high of 61 severely affected barangays, we are now down to eight barangays which are dependent on interim network solutions, static tanks or water tanks," he said.

"Our supply deficit is down from 150 million liters per day (MLD) to 170 MLD but there are still small pockets, sitios, or streets with intermittent no water situations resulting from operational adjustments and pressure management," he added.

The water concessionaire president said they are working with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and Manila Water Regulatory Office to resolve the shortage. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS