THE directors of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) who were set aside last year because of a sudden intervention by their regulator, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), vowed over the weekend that they would continue to challenge the takeover.
This after LWUA issued a statement on Friday confirming that it has extended its intervention up to August 30, 2025.
This is already the second extension of the takeover which began in June last year.
Meanwhile, the erstwhile directors continued to insist that LWUA had no legal basis to intervene because COWD had not been remiss in its financial obligations to the regulator.
In fact, a new COWD director has just been appointed in the person of lawyer Kristine Mae Japos although her status is disputed depending on the viewpoints of LWUA or the set aside board.
One of its members, Dr. Gerry Cano, said there is a pending case at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 41 questioning the intervention and the purported extension is just a continuation of that.
For his part, COWD interim general manager Fermin Jarales welcomed the extension, stating that it would allow COWD to push forward with its five-year development plan.
Key projects include the distribution of transmission lines, construction of reservoirs and establishment of metering and control points.
“I would like to think that this is an opportunity for us that we can do something. Somebody said that what we are doing is ambitious. But because of plans well crafted, because of clear leadership, we can get this done,” he said.
However, Cano criticized Jarales’ five-year-development plan, saying it is just a rehash to what they submitted to the City Council in 2023.
COWD directors, set aside due to LWUA intervention, brace for more legal battle ahead
