IN the sixth day of a second extension of the Local Water Utilities Administration’s (LWUA) intervention in the policies and operations of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD), the regular directors set aside still refused to recognize it.
For almost a week now, councilors and COWD chair Gerry Cano have been pressuring LWUA to release proof that they had indeed extended their takeover.
On Thursday morning (March 6), LWUA finally caved in and released a copy of the resolution approving a six-month extension of the full intervention.
The three-page document was adopted February 25 by chair Ronnie Ong, vice chair Jose Moises Salonga and trustee Lindley Santillan.
But in a phone interview, Cano said he and his colleagues still refuse to recognize the existence of the purported document.
Cano said he only learned about it in the social media and has never received any copy of such.
Cano also expressed disappointment that if the contents of the document were true, LWUA never provided basis for the extension of the intervention.
“We remain firm in our stand that under PD 198, the only basis that LWUA can intervene in a water utility is its failure to meet its outstanding obligations to LWUA itself. There is no other basis under law,” Cano said.
In the document released by LWUA, the trustees merely stated that they extended their takeover “after careful deliberation.”
COWD interim manager Fermin Jarales earlier said that Cano and the set aside directors could browse the document anytime from the LWUA website.
LWUA releases proof of intervention extension; COWD board still refuses to recognize it
