Palace hands off on Leyte water district power struggle

TACLOBAN CITY, Jan. 30  – Malacañang Palace will not intervene in the ongoing power struggle at the Leyte Metropolitan Water District, Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns Wendel Avisado said.

During his visit to the LMWD office here Monday afternoon, Avisado said it’s not the job of President Rodrigo Duterte to decide who among the local government units have the legal mandate to appoint the governing board of the water district.

The Chief Executive, according to Avisado, has no details about the issue that may affect the water district’s nearly 34,000 water consumers in the city and nearby seven towns.

“The President is not fully aware of the issue in the water district. We will make sure that we will not intervene because both camps have legal arguments. Since the matter has been brought up to the court, let the court decide,” Avisado told reporters.

The Palace official came to the city to inspect post-disaster housing projects as the official tasked by Duterte to oversee rehabilitation projects for super typhoon Yolanda survivors.

The official, however, stressed the need for the Local Water Utilities Administration to come in and help settle the issue since it’s their mandate to promote and oversee the development of water supply systems in cities and municipalities outside the National Capital Region.

Last week, LMWD acting general manager Pastor Homeres wrote a letter to the President exposing the corruption committed by the old board of directors in the implementation of projects such as office building constructions, pipeline projects, and purchase of vehicle.

On Dec. 11, 2017, Romualdez appointed a new set of officers for LMWD after the Supreme Court handed down a decision declaring Presidential Decree (PD) 198 unconstitutional.

Such a decree mandated that a local government which has 75 percent of water consumers of a water district has the authority to appoint board of directors.

The mayor said that her decision to appoint the board of directors stemmed from the case of Cebu Mayor Michael Rama, Metropolitan Cebu Water District et. al. vs. Home Gilbert Moises.

"It states that the mayor of highly urbanized city (such as Tacloban), having the mere majority (instead of the 75 percent requirement), of the total active water service connections of the local water district which are within the boundary of such city, should be the person empowered the members of the board directors of such local water district," Romualdez reiterated in a press statement issued Monday.

The city government said that based on the 2014 LMWD report, 67.5 percent of the water district’s consumers is in the regional capital.

The city-appointed officials filed an application for temporary restraining order on Dec. 14, 2017 with the Regional Trial Court to claim authority over the water district. The court denied the application after five days and the motion for reconsideration on Jan. 9, 2018.

On Jan. 17, the board of directors appointed by Romualdez entered the LMWD office in Nula Tula village. Majority of employees supported them as they promised to release the benefits under the Collective Negotiation Agreement.

Since then, the board of directors appointed by Leyte Governor Dominico Petilla has been prevented from entering the premises of the water district.

They recalled the June 6, 2006 appointment of Homeres as manager and appointed Adolfo Olaya, a retired police officer to manage the water district.

The provincial government-backed officials and 22 employees set up a temporary office at the Leyte Academic Center.

“We, the legitimate LMWD board of directors, would like to ensure customers, employees, and the general public, that amid the chaos and confusion caused by the fake directors, we will continue to fulfil our mandate and serve the best interest of the people,” the group of Petilla said in a statement.

Provincial Board Resolution No. 52 adopted on February 19, 1975 creates the LMWD by merging the then Leyte Metropolitan Water Supply System and the Tolosa Waterworks System.

LMWD initially served 3,365 water concessionaires covering the municipalities of Dagami, Tolosa, Tanauan, Palo, and this city. As of December 2016, the total active number of service connections was pegged at 33,832 to include the towns of Tabon-Tabon, Sta. Fe and Pastrana.

Approximately 60,000 cubic meters of potable water is delivered to the LMWD service areas every day with the main bulk of supply coming from Dagami and Pastrana towns.

Petilla admitted that the action might  affect the improving working relations between Tacloban City and Leyte province.

The Romualdezes and Petillas have political rift over several issues, including the proposed transfer of airport out the city, local festivals, and conversion of Tacloban as highly urbanized city in 2008. 

The reclassification took away the administrative control of the provincial government of Leyte of the regional capital. (SQM/PNA)