Manila Water exec hailed as first Filipino IWA Fellow

MANILA WATER New Business Operations Chief Operating Officer Virgilio C. Rivera, Jr. was recently confirmed as a Fellow of the International Water Association (IWA), the first Filipino to be honored as such. The IWA Fellows program recognizes an individual’s sustained outstanding influence in the water profession.

IWA Fellows are nominated based on their significant contributions to the water industry as an engineer, educator, utility manager, regulator, research engineer, scientist, or as a technical leader, as well as inputs to the IWA through past contributions and active and continued participation in various IWA activities.

Mr. Rivera has been involved in the development and management of Manila Water for the past 21 years. He was part of the core team that prepared the bid submission and carefully studied the concession contract and previously served as the Group Director for Regulation and Corporate Development (later known as the Corporate Strategy and Development Group), where he was responsible for shaping public policy, formulating regulatory strategies, mitigation of regulatory risk, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder relations.

Currently, he is responsible for Manila Water’s expansion efforts outside of Metro Manila to new geographies in the Philippines, as well as to targeted markets in the Asian region such as Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia. He is concurrently a managing director of Ayala Corporation, one of the Philippines’ oldest and largest conglomerates.

“I am fortunate to have been given by Ayala the rare opportunity to play a key role in executing one of the world’s largest water PPP projects in the world, and to work for Manila Water, which is reputed to be one of the leading water companies in the world for its inclusive business, capability of its human capital, and leadership bandwidth across the enterprise, just to mention a few of the company’s ‘Tap Secrets.’ Through this, I was able to achieve my career aspiration which is to develop expertise in the water industry and contribute to the transformation of water services in the Philippines as well as in the Asian region,” Mr. Rivera shared.