MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – They may have offered to forfeit the P10 Billion due to them by the Philippine government as part of a Singapore Artibiration Court’s ruling, but  Manila Water and Maynilad are confident they will easily recover that amount, and more, in Australia.

The two firms, closely associated with the Ayala and Pangilinan oligarchy, have submitted a bid as new water concessionaires for Sydney which has been reported to be running out of water.

A joint spokesperson for the two companies said that despite the Philippine government’s plan to cancel their concessions as water distributors for Metro Manila, they are poised for bigger profits by taking their business to Australia.

The Singapore Arbitration Courts award to the firms stemmed from their claim of loss of revenue due to the Philippine govenment’s previous decision to block rate hikes on water consumers.