FIFTEEN General Managers and over 20 Board Directors from various water districts, members of the Mindanao Association of Water Districts (MAWD), have signed on Thursday, a position paper opposing the Local Water Utilities Administration’s (LWUA) full intervention in the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD).
The dispute centers around a 478-million-peso debt owed by COWD to its supplier, Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Incorporated (Cobi).
The position paper, reflecting MAWD’s solidarity with COWD, states:
“In adopting this position paper, the Mindanao Association of Water Districts (MAWD), representing a unified front for water districts throughout Mindanao, stands in strong solidarity with its member district, the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD), in its desire to lobby and seek the Local Water Utilities Administration's (LWUA) assistance, support, and guidance to help it and all other water districts in Mindanao manage themselves with autonomy. MAWD humbly then requests LWUA not to implement its intended full intervention to the operations and management of COWD because, to its mind, such full intervention is not an appropriate solution to address the issues involving the terms of the Financial Assistance Contract (FAC) entered into by COWD.”
MAWD requested LWUA to exhaust administrative remedies as a more beneficial option to resolve the FAC terms.
For his part, COWD Interim General Manager Fermin Jarales said that he is just doing his job as instructed by the LWUA and is just implementing the order of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr to come up with a comprehensive report on what is going on inside the city-owned water facility.
“We are clear with our strategic plan nga mahuman nato ang Cobi-COWD contract aron matagaan na nato’g solusyon kini nga dispute,” said Jarales.
Earlier, Jarales outlined a clear direction for the COWD amid its ongoing dispute with Cobi over an unpaid P478 million debt.
His strategic goals included reducing non-revenue water, increasing billable water volume, improving COWD’s relationships with their various suppliers and partners, compliance with the Clean Water Act by establishing a sewage treatment plant and ensuring safe and adequate water quality.
Jarales advised Antonio Young to study relevant legislation and the water facility’s obligations.
The MAWD suggested seeking the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel’s (OGCC) opinion, given its expertise in legal advice and mediation, as a viable alternative to full intervention.
Pagadian Water District General Manager Pericles Sollano emphasized the importance of addressing procedural intervention issues in the position paper.
General Manager of Pagadian Water District Pericles Sollano said that they will bring this position paper to LWUA.
“The most important content of the position paper is to correct the procedural intervention,” Sollano said, expressing hope for a reformed system.
Young expressed gratitude to his fellow GMs and claimed that a full takeover is not the solution to improving COWD’s system.
“There are many ways to help, and a full takeover is not the way to improve the water district’s system,” said Young, hopeful that LWUA will consider their position paper.
Created through Presidential Decree No. 198 by then-President Ferdinand Marcos in 1973, the LWUA is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) with a specialized lending function mandated by law to promote and oversee the development of water supply systems in provincial cities and municipalities outside of Metropolitan Manila.
Also under its Board of Trustees’ recent resolution its intervention with water districts includes the appointment of an Interim Board of Directors by the LWUA, through its administrator.
