Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 279)
The LWUA is mandated to serve as a specialized lending institution for the promotion, development, and financing of local water utilities.
Before the reforms of Executive Order No. 279, LWUA was attached to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
WSPs refer to local water utilities such as Water Districts (WDs), LGU-run water utilities, rural waterworks and sanitation associations, barangay waterworks and sanitation associations, regardless of location.
Graduation refers to the progression of a water service provider from non-creditworthy to pre-creditworthy, pre-creditworthy to semi-creditworthy, or semi-creditworthy to creditworthy status based on improvements in financial and operational indicators.
The Oversight Committee is composed of the Department of Finance as Chair, National Economic and Development Authority as Vice-Chair, members from the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Interior and Local Government, Office of the President, and LWUA Administrator. GFIs and the Municipal Development Fund Office serve as resource persons.
The WDG is responsible for institutional development services aimed at graduating WSPs, classification of WSPs into creditworthiness categories, monitoring implementation of graduation initiatives, and preparing quarterly reports to the Oversight Committee and DOF.
Creditworthy WSPs are eligible to source financing at commercial lending rates from Government Financial Institutions (GFIs) and Private Financing Institutions (PFIs).
The EO encourages initiatives such as amalgamation, private sector participation, cost-recovery tariffs, resource pooling, and grants incentives to WSPs that improve and graduate to higher creditworthiness statuses.
The TAG provides technical assistance to WSPs, GFIs, and creditworthy WSPs on a competitive basis, and may also extend project-related assistance to semi-creditworthy, pre-creditworthy, and non-creditworthy WSPs within determined value thresholds.
Violations are subject to disciplinary action and other penalties as provided in the IRR and other relevant laws and issuances.