Bulk water supplier eyes contracts, projects in Palawan, Mindanao

January 14, 2009 • 2:35 am

Bulk water supplier eyes contracts, projects in Palawan, Mindanao

Sun.Star Cebu <> Tuesday, January 6, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

AMID the deepening global financial crisis, a Cebu-based bulk water supplier and potable water service provider plans to expand outside Cebu.

Pilipinas Water Resources Inc. (PWRI) president Antonio Tompar said PWRI wants to become a bulk water supplier in major
areas in Manila, Palawan and Mindanao.

PWRI, a consortium of the M. Lhuillier Group and Mactan Rock Industries Inc. established in 2007, serves at least 40 resorts and 20 households in Panglao, Bohol, Jasaan and Tagoloan towns in Misamis Oriental and the mining town of Bataraza in Palawan. It also serves Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.’s Cebu plant, the Cebu Port Authority and several shipping companies.

In Cebu, PWRI plans to extend its services to at least 10 barangays in Mandaue City at the end of 2009, although the company already started supplying a couple of barangays there.

PWRI already has water system projects in Banilad, Sapangdaku, Pulangbato, Pardo and Bulacao, and other villages in Cebu City, as well as other areas in Cebu Province.

Tompar said the water supply business can still be considered a sunrise industry even during the global slowdown because water is a basic need.

This new year, PWRI, which aims to become a major supplier of potable water in the country, is confident about being able to set up water systems in more areas after the recent approval of its loan with the Development Bank of the Philippines.

Last month, PWRI was awarded an ISO 9001 (International Organization for Standardization) for Quality Policy Management System and ISO 14001 for Environmental Management System. Tompar said these certifications will not only increase the company’s customer base, but will also “reassure and remind current and potential clients of the company’s mandate to deliver quality, reliable and environment-friendly water supply.”

“They indicate that we have complied with international standards,” said Tompar in a phone interview.

He added that the ISO certifications give PWRI “the perspective that the company has a credible and reliable quality management and environmental management systems.”