Commodification of public water? Investigating how private sector participation affects households in Tagbilaran City, the Philippines

Abstract

Since December 2000, Bohol Water Utilities Inc. (BWUI), a public/private joint venture company, has been sharing responsibility for providing potable water to households in Tagbilaran city, the Philippines. Confounding expectations of a natural monopoly (Rees 1998), residents of Tagbilaran are also served by a second water utility owned and operated by the Tagbilaran City Government, Tagbilaran City Waterworks Services (TCWS). Between these two utilities, water services coverage extends to approximately 80 per cent of the more than 15,500 city households. The remaining households rely on bulk-water, private or communal wells, other small-scale vendors, or rainwater, or a combination of these sources to meet their daily water needs.