Beja is source of story on privatization, says Salcedo

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent .

COUNCILOR Enrico Salcedo over the weekend pointed to dismissed Cagayan de Oro Water District general manager Rachel Beja as the source of the city council’s public utility committee’s information that the COWD is going to be privatized.

Salcedo said this after COWD chairman Eduardo Montalvan called as “fake news” assertions made by Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr. that the Pangilinan group would be involved in water distribution five years from now and would eventually involve itself in managing the COWD.

In an earlier interview, Lao said these were provided in the contract between COWD and the Pangilinan group. While he claimed Lao has a copy of the contract, he has yet to show the specific provision or his copy of the document.

But Salcedo, who attended the committee meeting on Tuesday afternoon, said the minutes of the meeting would show that it was Engr. Beja who disclosed the supposed creeping privatization of the COWD.

In an interview, Beja said the Pangilinan-controlled Metro Pacific Water Investments Corp. sent a proposal to operate the water district in October 2016. She said the previous set of directors rejected it.

“Adtong panahuna diretso nila gi-oppose ang plan, ilang gibalibaran,” Beja said.

But in May 2017, Beja said, Metro Pacific sent a second unsolicited proposal to the new set of COWD directors.

Beja said the COWD chairman advised Metro Pacific to revise and submit the proposal this March.

“Pero wala naman kita diha. Wala na kita kabalo kung naka-submit na ba sila sa ilang revised second unsolicited proposal to operate the water district,” Beja said.