OWNER BUSTED BY SURIGAO CITY PRIME WATER

Hi Manwonder,

Thank you for sharing your experience ! I hope it will help other expats facing such dishonesty.

All the best,

Bhavna

@manwonder

These are the annoyances that drive expats crazy and detract from the retirement experience. Some "smart" municipal officials and neighbors think expats can be unknowingly fleeced, so they chance trying. I've heard a few expat accounts regarding how "smiling clowns" (great phrase, can I borrow it?) hooked into their electricity or water systems. I hope your situation is resolved soon, you get some results, and some decent water.

On Bantayan, we had frequent, random brownouts and water cuts, sometimes for hours, sometimes for days. When building the guest house, I put in a good solar system and deep well (at great expense). To install it, we needed municipal electricity. The appraiser at Banelco looked at the building plans, counted all the lights, fans and sockets, and presented us with an exorbitant bill, based "on the number of sockets". When I appealed, explaining the electricity was temporary, for drills and welders in the short-term, and we'd soon be running solar - that made absolutely no difference. It was "policy". To keep the peace we paid, and now don't need the municipal water or electricity supply. They must be laughing.

Meanwhile, all my neighbors run daily fans and videoke machines and pay nothing but their monthly tariff.

The corruption (which is in every country) in the Philippines is so toxic, it holds the Philippines back. I've used this quote before, but it's said "Filipinos can thrive in every country in the world except one"...

This is extreme, but I think one solution is to transition the money system to a CBDC (government controlled digital-money system), whereby all transactions can be monitored and traced. That way, when a local mayor builds a mansion, but the roads are unfinished, a digital trail will track the money-flow, and he/she will be held accountable. There likely will still be corruption at the very top, but other government escalons will be coerced into line. Hopefully then, there'll be greater prosperity and opportunities for the average Pinoy. ...and better utilities for expats.

Thanks...

"Despicable" that's all I have to say....even after having watched me drive in/out of our Barangay with my better half & 4 children tagging along with me in my multicab with the 8x50 litre yellow drums with water splashing out when filled & for weeks on end.... always offering that deceitful smile....while one of the neighbours was busy selling his 35p/5gallon (most probably unfiltered) blue containers to the poor and looking like a hero...."kawatan" new bisaya word I learnt today.

They say you can choose your friends but not your neighbours. Neighbours & ex wives. Who needs them.

They say you can choose your friends but not your neighbours. Neighbours & ex wives. Who needs them.
-@Lotus Eater

A little different slant on this. You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Guys I was terrified at not having water for weeks on end....I would have easily held back my pride and picked yr friends nose/s too.

I just can't stand those deceitful smiles....hard to comprehend....I wouldn't do such a thing even to my enemies.

Have you considered installing your own desalination plant?

Omho

I kind of now know/understand why that senior Dutch gentleman (who built his/my neighbours retirement home for his two timing mistress who is now living happily with her extended family) may indeed never be coming back.

He really was the only Jem of a guy amongst that neighbours family whose house just got busted.

We have a well but like the municipal water and hoping it will save us a little by not running the 3/4 hp well pump. I know what you mean by the meter strainer plugging but I just use a pair of slip joint pliers and clean it myself.  Here's a photo of a small shrimp like creature in the strainer. I open the valve for a second and have a nice stream of water to flush out the strainer.

An update :

It's 2200hrs and for once my neighbourhood is dead silent including the dogs that used to run along the streets that are hardly barking....I've left my tap running at full blast into my 3m3 outdoor rain water collection trough which was empty (hardly any rain for the past 2weeks) & I suddenly realize I really miss the sound of flowing water not having that resource for weeks on end.

I overheard some bisaya chatter amongst the neighbours (hardly understand anything) but I saw a Prime water truck parked on the street & I'm sure some investigation on this water theft is going on.

I feel a little sad because I know that there are some neighbours without any water pipes/meters and they may have relied on my neighbour the thief "tubic kawatan" the crook with the illegal sump/pump who could have been their illegal saviour (their so called nibor hood...does not deserve the name robin hood) of course for a profit for himself...the mxxxxfxxxx!!!

I'm still thinking if I should get my better half to approach some of the poor neighbours living behind us & see if they need any water which I am most definitely willing to provide to them for free.

I really don't use 10m3/mth but that's my max entitlement for 209p)....any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

No suggestions because I know nothing about this subject but I do think you have done the right thing. I also think you are a very compassionate, generous and kind hearted individual for considering the plight of others less fortunate, who may now have no access to water.

No suggestions because I know nothing about this subject but I do think you have done the right thing. I also think you are a very compassionate, generous and kind hearted individual for considering the plight of others less fortunate, who may now have no access to water.
-@Cherryann01

Thanks....Yes I do see/feel the pain some of my poor neighbours go through daily (especially the older ones) & I will help with their water needs.

It's 0230hrs guys...unable to sleep....I have never seen/felt/heard such strong water pressure ever for years....it's so high like its flowing cats and dogs.

Yes I've decided to go to the areas behind my home with my better half and try and help the many/less fortunate old folk around and I am going to start providing FREE 5gallon top ups for them...from today the true spirit of Robin Hood shall prevail & take over the evil/fake profiteering kind "Tubig Kawatans"....who have not heard the last of me.

You nipped one bad actor today. Two replacement bad actors will sprout around you. Keep up the good work! They'll keep you busy. 😊

That's great it's resolved...can't do much without water. The neighbors who've been disadvantaged by the "kawatan's" actions will hopefully hold him accountable, and not the party who drew attention to the water theft.

A bit like you...I seek justice, but then sometimes feel sympathy and get soft. In your case, from a distance at least, it seems it's now the municipality's responsibility to step up and sort something out regarding your other neighbors' water.

Sad to hear your story manwonder. Glad you eventually sorted that out, Reminiscent of power losses and extravagant bills. I simply wonder how they (your smiling superficial neighbours) managed to connect to your waterline without you noticing.

Perhaps different for me as I have a deep well, pump and controller locked up in the pump/generator building.

Happy showering mate, enjoy.

Cheers, Steve.

Thanks guys appreciate your replies....I just hope I'm left alone... as you may well be aware what some of these local thugs can do (having lost face) in front of their own village ...so I'll still keep my guard up.

Chin up and move on manwonder, no need to worry about tsismis because you took back what they were stealing from you. Old story, God helps those that help them self and Christ help those that get caught.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

The neighbours/"Tubig Kawatans" lame backlash (due to loss of face) has just begun..& I hope it ends here....I'll just wait & see.

a) Found two new 20cm2 wire cutter holes (You can see the raw metal shiny cuts on the tears which are part of my overall 88metre perimeter wired fence so it was no accident).

b) No forced entry yet except for one of the neighbours normally caged highly sexed/sick dogs that came through these holes during the wee hours of the morning 3 times already...most probably intentionally coaxed into my yard by the owner to start irritating my female dog who we have since moved indoors till we make the relevant repairs.

c). The neighbour who was selling the Blue 5gallon unfiltered/untreated 35p/bottle "kawatan Tubig" has since stopped.

d)  Hear some digging works going on behind my neighbours house (the "nibor hood" of our village) which I have yet to investigate but most probably someone found an illegal under ground sump tank/pipes....not too sure.

Stay safe & Will keep you guys updated.

Some Info on methods used by "nibor hood Tubig kawatans"

http://rightcitizens.blogspot.com/2017/ … e.html?m=1

Only a thought manwonder, how did they tap into your metered tubig supply without you noticing? I suppose no different to those that pinch electrical supplies or letting their goats out to roam the neighbours properties.

Wow, unfiltered water @ p35? I get filtered water for p20 if I pick up and p25 delivered,,,,, interestingly though since we have a heap of workers here now and going through 10 to 15 bottles a week they are only charging me p20 and the dude picks up the empties when he is in the area and drops the refills off next day, Ben always gives him a tip.

Hope your water supply is back to normal mate.

Cheers, Steve.

Omo :

These illegal underground sump/lines are connected to the water mainline even before the residential meters so they not only take away the water but some of the water pressure as well.

....then whatever excess water & pressure then proceeds to flow through our residential meters.

To keep the party going the Tubig Kawatans then deploy their meter fixers who would make their rounds in the wee hours of the morning to tamper with these residential meters so as not to alert the water districts attention on overall missing water ...so there were months that I had a reading of say 7m3/mth but in actual fact maybe I used only 4m3 or less....the worst was receiving a bill for 10m3 when I hardly had 1m3 for the month where I was filling bucket loads of water from a very kind hearted pinoy family in another barangay some 15kms away...especially after the S.Typhoon Odette hit us and when the water pressure on the main water line itself dropped significantly...guess what the "nibor hood Tubig kawatans" did....they increased their refill price to 35p/5gallon when residents were hardly getting any water through their taps & being billed in full by the water district for the month @ 209p for max 10m3 or less or even better for NO Water.

Q

@manwonder My water meter is similar to #5 in your link. If I wanted to steal water (and I don't for obvious reasons) I would make a piping piece the length of the meter with a union half on each end and simply replace the meter. Our water is cheap and good quality so I'm happy except for occasional low pressure. I was contemplating a solar powered booster pump but I see in #7 that is illegal, at least according to ZCWD. I have a well that works fine, just saving the cost of running the well pump by using municipal water. I get a double benefit using municipal water since it is much warmer than well water. I'm connected both ways, just have to open or close a single 1" ball valve to switch from well to city water or vice versa.

When I was here on a visit in 2014 the old water system pressure would go to zero in the morning. I did add a 1/2 hp booster pump at that time and it worked fairly well except for when the water was really low and it pumped the line dry. I can imagine neighbors opening the water valve and hearing air rushing in instead of water pouring out.

Sadly the photo above was unable to load.

It was a sign that translated from bisaya reads as follow :

A Signboard which I have just mounted on my front gate :

"To those who don't have tap water we can give at least 2 buckets per day FREE if we have sufficient water pressure especially local senior citizens."

Maybe this time....

https://sg.docworkspace.com/d/sABh6s13NxOWnAZPox5mupxQ

Sadly the photo above was unable to load.
It was a sign that translated from bisaya reads as follow :
A Signboard which I have just mounted on my front gate :
"To those who don't have tap water we can give at least 2 buckets per day FREE if we have sufficient water pressure especially local senior citizens."
-@manwonder

From this time forward you will be known as manwonderwater.

Sadly the photo above was unable to load.
It was a sign that translated from bisaya reads as follow :
A Signboard which I have just mounted on my front gate :
"To those who don't have tap water we can give at least 2 buckets per day FREE if we have sufficient water pressure especially local senior citizens."
-@manwonder

That is a very generous act on your part and I applaud you for it. I am also very glad to hear that you have resolved the issue and you are receiving the water you are paying for. I am sure you will be just as popular with your neighbours as the swindling chap that caused you so many problems in the first place. Water is such a precious commodity and much needed by all.

...This is extreme, but I think one solution is to transition the money system to a CBDC (government controlled digital-money system), whereby all transactions can be monitored and traced...
-@gsturdee

This where we are headed and I cannot think of a more effective way to control the population: Programmable digital currency. Are you purchasing things that the government doesn't like, such as too much fossil fuel, firearms, donating to the opposition party's causes like anti abortion? Your money becomes co-owned by the government in power, maybe benign or maybe not. We should never allow this to happen even if it might help stop corruption amongst petty officials. It is not worth it.

gsturdee said. . . .This is extreme, but I think one solution is to transition the money system to a CBDC (government controlled digital-money system), whereby all transactions can be monitored and traced...
**********************************************************************

danfinn replied. . . .This where we are headed and I cannot think of a more effective way to control the population: Programmable digital currency. Are you purchasing things that the government doesn't like, such as too much fossil fuel, firearms, donating to the opposition party's causes like anti abortion? Your money becomes co-owned by the government in power, maybe benign or maybe not. We should never allow this to happen even if it might help stop corruption amongst petty officials. It is not worth it.

************************************************************************

Government officials will be exempt. "George Orwell 1984"

@danfinn

"Are you purchasing things that the government doesn't like, such as too much fossil fuel, firearms, donating to the opposition party's causes like anti abortion? Your money becomes co-owned by the government in power, maybe benign or maybe not. We should never allow this to happen even if it might help stop corruption amongst petty officials. It is not worth it."

No, I'm not doing anything illegal. To the contrary, I'm suggesting a way things can be done legally and better.

My thesis is this: Corruption is a cancer that holds nationstates back. Regarding the Philippines we're not talking "petty corruption", but graft on a mass scale, which is why to get ahead many Filipinos need to leave to work abroad. I argue that the Filipino people have great potential, but are disadvantaged by impeded development, due directly to corrupt practices.

One way to tackle said corruption is by introducing a CBDC with Distributive Ledger technology (DLT). These payments are safer, faster, cheaper than local and cross-border transactions are currently. The technology already exists. A key difference to the user would be money is in digital form, and not printed paper, otherwise it's still a sovereign (state regulated) currency.

CBDC's are coming whether we like it or not. Ripplenet, whose native currency is XRP, has set up contracts with most major financial institutions globally, and is supported by the WEF, IMF, World Bank. Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO presented in Davos recently and he was well received. Additionally, the ISO 20022 mandate requires that all major central and corporate banks begin to implement the new financial systems by November 2022.

Those who have not paid their taxes should be worried, especially from the USA, which reserves the right to tax their citizens abroad. Soon it will be able to find them.

Honest, hard-working, tax-paying citizens should welcome the initiative, as CBDC's have potential (through increased efficiency and accountability) to reduce corruption, minimize friction, and stimulate economies by increasing transaction velocity. CBDC's might be controversial in that they can be "programmed" to expire or limit purchase options (in line with government laws). Cash will become a thing of the past.

@Enzyte Bob

Yes second that, those at the top will have more control. Let's hope they use it for good and they're benevolent.

It's like saying "Who Watches the Watchers" from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Like those that don't watch their own planet? I watch my property  but unlike you I have my own well and pump and doubt the locals are interested to save a few hundred pesos robbing water or power. They are all wealthier than me anyway.

Cheers, Steve.

@Enzyte Bob
Yes second that, those at the top will have more control. Let's hope they use it for good and they're benevolent.
-@gsturdee

Top 10 Oxymoron's:

(1) accurate estimates

(2) alone together

(3) awfully good

(4) bittersweet

(5) climb down

(6) close distance

(7) grow smaller

(8) jumbo shrimp

(9) Hope they will use it for good

(10) They are benevolent

@gsturdee You said: "Those who have not paid their taxes should be worried, especially from the USA, which reserves the right to tax their citizens abroad. Soon it will be able to find them."  Well, as all tryrants say, if you are doing nothing wrong you hsve nothing to worry about.

@Enzyte Bob

Very good, the last two items fit perfectly. Saying that, I still believe improved governance is possible, and technology can assist this. I read a couple of WEF Klaus Schwab's books. He's demonized by some as being some type of crazed dictator, but industry captains and NGO's support the principles and objectives outlined (if they turn out as described) which are desirable - technology to improve societies, cleaner environment, digital monetary systems, sustainable development, renewable energy etc. It's subtle, but he advocates stricter controls in order to implement these, so there's the whole freedom-loss vs. benefit argument.

@gsturdee I just cannot recall ever having voted for Mr. Schwab as one who would have such a great influence on our society and culture. I am not one who fits into the narrative of 'you will.own nothing and be happy'. Somehow that seems to go against human nature.

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