Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO) Chief Regulator Joel Yu sat down with Professor Wu Xun and Olivia Jensen of Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore for an in-depth interview about the country’s water regulatory policy during their visit on Friday, 6 February, 2015.

The Chief Regulator, in an interview with Xun, Director at the Institute of Water Policy, and an Associate Professor at the LKY School of Public Policy, and Jensen Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Water Policy, made clear the dimensions of the regulator, the indicative as well as the compelling role played by the Regulatory Office as regulating arms of the MWSS in sustaining the gains of the MWSS privatization in 1997.

Dr. Yu also talked about the mandate of MWSS-RO, created in August 1997 by virtue of the Concession Agreements (CAs) signed between the MWSS and the two concessionaires, Manila Water Company, Inc. for the East Zone and Maynilad Water Services, Inc. for the West Zone, to monitor the CAs for effective regulation of water and sewerage services.

He also exemplified the regulatory functions of the MWSS-RO and its comprehensive regulatory framework to balance the interest of stakeholders and to protect the consuming public from high prices and poor services.

The Chief Regulator, likewise, explored the depths of the MWSS-RO policy groundwork during the interview with Xun and enlightened the latter on the regulatory practices, challenges and rate setting regulatory tools in scaling up sewerage and sanitation investment and developing new water sources.