Gan trains guns on water deal

By LITO RULONA, Correspondent

COUNCILOR Leon Gan on Wednesday threatened to lead a group of lawyers in filing a case against the Cagayan de Oro Water District and the Manny V. Pangilinan-owned Metro Pacific Water Investments Corp. in an attempt to void whatever contract they signed last month.

Gan said he and other lawyers would prepare a lawsuit, questioning the COWD-Metro Pacific deal, citing the absence of a public consultation.

He also questioned Mayor Oscar Moreno’s apparent consent to the contract, citing that the local chief executive, some councilors and other city hall officials were present during the signing of the joint venture agreement at the Makati Shangri-La in August.

Gan said the agreement should be rescinded even as he blamed Moreno and other local officials for supposedly giving COWD and Metro Pacific the impression that no one would question the deal.

“The mayor can consult the people through the members of the city council. Dili man kay ikaw ra ang maayong laki sa siyudad. They can even hold the consultation with the barangay chairpersons through public hearings in the barangay level,” Gan said. “Ang pag-witness unya pag-pirma without any consultation is already a manifestation nga nangilad siya. Mayor siya unya gigamit niya ang iyang gahum in representing the people. Ang gahum sa mayor dili binugtong.”

He said the agreement appears to be disadvantageous to the city’s consuming public, given the higher water rates.

COWD officials earlier confirmed that the water district would pay Metro Pacific over P16 per cubic meter or some 53 percent higher than Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc.’s P10.45-price. They however said that COWD would shoulder the higher costs and that the rate increase would not be passed on to the city’s water consumers.

Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., chairman of the city council’s public utilities committee, earlier said he has asked COWD and Metro Pacific executives to shed light on their joint agreement and to furnish the committee a copy of their contract.

“Dili kita mosupak kung ang pagsulod sa bag-o nga company dili makadaut sa dakbayan. But agreeing to much higher rates compared to Rio Verde’s can be considered disadvantageous to the consuming public labi na gyud kung walay consultation and public hearing nga gihimo ang COWD,” Gan said.

He pointed out that the COWD is partly owned by the public which gives local officials the right to demand transparency in its dealings.

Gan said the COWD-Metropac contract should be submitted to the city council for review.

He said the city council should also be allowed to scrutinize Metro Pacific’s profile and examine its facilities.

“Where would they get their water supply? Initially, we hear reports that (Metro Pacific) will get its supply from (Rio Verde) at higher rates. Dili kini maayo. Mura og sila ra ang nagsabotsabot,” Gan said.