CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 30 May)—Finally, government regulator Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) “intervened” in the operations of the troubled Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) on Wednesday.
But the current COWD general manager, Antonio Young, and board member Gerry Caño, in a press conference, said they would contest the LWUA order.
Escorted by heavily armed SWAT policemen, the team sent by LWUA entered the COWD office along Corrales Avenue to implement Resolution No. 34, series of 2024 issued by the its board of trustees on May 17, 2024.
The order dated May 29, 2024 and signed by Julius Paolo Basa, LWUA corporate board secretary, said the government regulator would “intervene” with the COWD’s “policy-making authority” and “the powers of management” for six months.
Basa asked Young and the board of directors to “set aside and desist from performing their functions “in the duration of the intervention period.”
“This is in line with the regulatory and supervisory powers of LWUA under Presidential Decree No. 198 as amended, COWD existing Financial Assistance Contract With LWUA which lists violations constituting default and the remedies of LWUA and the directive of [President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.] given in his speech in Cagayan de Oro City on May 16, 2024,” Basa said in the one-page intervention order, copies of which were sent to reporters via the messenger app.
In his May 16 visit to Cagayan de Oro, President Marcos ordered LWUA to intervene in the squabble between COWD and Cagayan de Oro Water Bulk Inc., owned by businessman Manny Pangilinan, over a disputed P479 million debt.
President Marcos said he was able to get assurance from Pangilinan that water supply for Cagayan de Oro residents would not be cut off until the dispute is settled amicably.
In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Young and Caño said they would contest the LWUA order, adding that the COWD board of director passed a resolution not to recognize it.
“I will follow the orders of the existing board, otherwise I would be charged with dereliction of duty or abandonment,” Young told reporters.
Young said they have sent another letter to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel questioning anew the LWUA order.
Caño, for his part, questioned why the resolution dated May 29 was only signed by LWUA board secretary Basa and not the entire board.
“We do not acknowledge any intervention or any take over because we have not committed any violations,” Caño said.
The interim set of officers for COWD constituted by LWUA were presented at the COWD board room Wednesday afternoon.
Named interim general manager is Fermin Jarales. Antonio Ramirez will sit as board chairman in the meantime, while lawyers Noel Bacal and Donn Kapunan, as well as Amelia de la Rosa, will sit as board members.
Jarales ran for vice governor of Misamis Oriental in 2016 under Lakas where he placed third when Joey Pelaez won. He ran again for a seat in the provincial board in the second district of the province under Aksyon Demokratiko in 2022 where he placed 12th. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Misamis Oriental only has 10 regularly elected members, five from each district.
LWUA Chairman Ronnie Ong posed with Jarales and the new board for a picture inside the COWD board room.
“We are hoping to implement lawful orders from LWUA and we stayed until 5 p.m. to see that proper policies are implemented,” Jarales told reporters in an ambush interview.
He said the LWUA board wanted normalcy to resume at COWD.
Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando “Klarex” Uy, who met with Ong and other LWUA officials in the former’s office Wednesday morning, said in a statement that he acknowledges the decision of LWUA and expressed hope that the agency can successfully mediate the dispute between COBI and COWD. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
