MAYOR Oscar Moreno yesterday disagreed with the move of some councilors to investigate into the dismissal of Engr. Rachel Beja as general manager of the Cagayan de Oro Water District given that the engineer has questioned the move of the utility’s directors before the Civil Service Commission.
“While the city council has oversight functions over the COWD, given that the water company serves the public, I don’t agree with the move of two or three councilors to investigate into the dismissal, especially now that the same has already been questioned with the Civil Sevice Commission,” said Moreno.
He said what makes the proposed move “mysterious” is that “there is [an] effort to connect the dismissal to the contract that COWD has entered into with the Metro Pacific group.”
“There seems to be a suggestion that Engr. Beja was dismissed because she was against the then proposed deal with Metro Pacific. This is absolutely preposterous, and the motive is seemingly suspect,” he said.
Moreno said Beja’s removal as COWD general manager is an “internal affair” of COWD.
The utility, he explained, is a quasi-public firm that is governed by special law and, suppletorily, by the Corporation Code.
Moreno said there is a recourse available to Beja, and that is to the CSC.
“If Engr. Beja seeks further recourse, she can go to the courts, which are empowered to review decisions of constitutional bodies on specified grounds,” said Moreno. (cio)
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