THE Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) has defended its typhoon Tino restoration efforts, describing its response to the unprecedented damage as “exceptional by industry standards” amid criticism from Cebu City Councilor Harold Go.
In a press statement, the MCWD said while it welcomes the concerns raised by Go during his privilege speech, it saw the need to clarify the full context behind the prolonged service interruptions that have affected parts of Cebu City for more than a month.
Earlier on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, Go called out the “unacceptable delays” and governance issues at MCWD after thousands of households across the city continued to endure unstable or zero water supply 35 days after typhoon Tino.
Go questioned the pace of MCWD’s restoration work, the lack of 24/7 contractor deployment, unclear timelines, and the absence of a fully functioning board that could legally approve major actions.
He also described the human toll of the crisis, noting that families had been relying on rationing, water tankers, and private donations just to bathe, clean their homes, and cook.
He asked the council to summon MCWD, private suppliers, and regulatory agencies to an executive session.
In response to these concerns, the MCWD said its disaster committee convened just hours after typhoon Tino made landfall on Nov. 4.
Assessment teams dispatched to the ground found that a 2.6-kilometer stretch of its 800-millimeter Jaclupan transmission line, the utility’s biggest in-house water source, had been completely wiped out by the swollen Mananga River.
The MCWD said repairing the line under normal circumstances would have taken at least six months. However, the destroyed line was bypassed in just three weeks with help from private supplier Watermatic–Tubig Pilipinas, whose newly laid pipeline ran parallel to the destroyed section.
Watermatic agreed to allow the use of its line at no cost and undertook interconnection works 24/7 without charge.
The MCWD said despite technical challenges faced by the interconnection, water supply was restored in just three weeks, a turnaround time that “international water experts say would normally take a year or more.”
The agency said except for Jaclupan, it restored its other in-house sources within days.
Meanwhile, repairs for Lusaran, operated by JE Hydro, took longer due to heavy damage, inaccessible terrain, and widespread power outages in the upland area.
The water district said it remains in close coordination with the supplier to accelerate full restoration.
“Surprised”
The MCWD said Go’s descriptions of a “slow” or “uneven” response surprised the agency, noting that the councilor personally visited affected sites and saw the extent of the damage and the continuous work of crews.
“MCWD remains unsure where these criticisms are coming from or what prompted them,” the statement read, though the agency acknowledged Go’s concern
for residents.
The water district reiterated that it has always coordinated with LGUs and remains open to executive sessions, audits, and the submission of technical reports and restoration plans.
MCWD also addressed questions about governance, saying that despite vacancies in its Board of Directors, basic services have never been hampered and operations continue in accordance with Presidential Decree 198, also known as the Provincial Water Utilities
Act of 1973.
The process of filling board seats, it said, is
proceeding legally.
Even as recovery efforts continue, MCWD said it is pushing forward with nearly P800 million in expansion projects in 2026. / CAV