BAGUIO CITY — In a bid to establish a more practical and enforceable system, Baguio City is shifting to a water consumption-based sanitation fee, repealing an older policy that required inspectors to physically count household toilet bowls.
Baguio City Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda said, “At the moment, we have a sanitation fee, but it is based on the number of toilet bowls, which is not practical. So now we are making it more practical; we are basing it on water consumption.”
The new policy, titled “An Ordinance Imposing Sanitation Fee and Repealing Certain Provisions of Ordinance Number 18, Series of 2016,” was authored by Tabanda and passed on its third and final reading on July 6, 2026.
Under the newly approved policy, the local government will calculate wastewater fees based on how much water households actually consume—a move officials say is fairer and much easier to enforce. Local officials state this shift creates an equitable funding mechanism to rehabilitate the city’s aging treatment facilities and expand its overextended sewerage network.
“For those using septic tanks, they also have to pay a fee, but the advantage is that once every four years, the city will desludge their septic tank,” Tabanda explained.
For consumers under the Baguio Water District (BWD), the sanitation fee will automatically be added to their monthly billing statements based strictly on water usage. Residential users will pay a sanitation fee equivalent to 16% of their monthly water consumption charge, while commercial and government users will be charged 18%.
The city clarified that the computation will strictly use the base usage rate, excluding extra charges like meter fees, taxes, and penalties.
The ordinance is also designed to ensure fairness for households not yet connected to the main city sewer lines. Residents who still rely on independent septic tanks will pay the water-based fee, but they will receive a direct return on their investment through the scheduled desludging service.
The ordinance is currently awaiting the signature of Mayor Benjamin Magalong, with implementation expected by September. By Noemi P. Salatic / UC Intern
