The MIWD

 

Hole of Justice

Peter G. Jimenea

The cost of finding the truth (MIWD)

The Local Water Utilities Administration (LUWA) disclosed that Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) has failed to meet the 75% required service connections of consumers from 2006 to August 2010. So, as cited in Sec. 3(b) of PD 198, the rightful appointing authority for the Board of Directors (BoD) is not the mayor but the governor.

On November 11, 2010, LUWA declared the appointments of MIWD Board from 2006 to August 2010, to the present led by Mr. Celso Javelosa null and void ab initio. This started the legal battles between the management and members of the BoD.

City residents are aware of the plan by unscrupulous businessmen and few local officials to privatize the operation of the MIWD. They had been dreaming of enormous profit from the take-over of the water district once it is realized.

In fact, when still the mayor, Cong. Jerry Trenas bluntly said that the best way for MIWD to serve the water needs of the people of Iloilo City is to privatize its operation. Whom are they kidding? The people want production, not distribution.

This is probably the ultimate goal of Trenas once he stepped down from politics – to make easy money by bleeding his constituents. But he is not the only vampire in this horrible story. There are at least four or five of them comprising the syndicate we are dealing with.

After LUWA’s declaration, the BoD through their illegal… este legal counsel, sought relief from the RTC which trial judge easily acquiesced to their whims for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). It was only a misfortune that their prayer for the issuance of an injunction was denied.

Propelled by a burning desire for profit, the benefactors of the BoD tinkled their ass to find a solution. They know that drinking waters today cost more than bottled soft-drinks. The thought of BoD losing their post seems putting them in the brink of insanity!

True, whom the gods wish to destroy, they make them first insane. Rather than elevate the case to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) as the issue is position, the BoD jumped to the Court of Appeals for a remedy. On what misfortune, the CA told them… pack up and go away!

Perhaps, it is God’s will. The MIWD waters are for people in all walks of life. All living things in this world have the right for a share of the water. But the city mayor seems a willing victim of the syndicate to kill rather than cure the sick water district.

This is not what we think the business of a city mayor is all about. Why resent the law when it says the governor is the rightful authority to appoint the BoD of the local water district? Is the desire to abolish MIWD to get even with LUWA and the Court of Appeals for the unfavorable decision?

It is true that the 15-day period to file an appeal with the CSC has prescribed and the mayor’s appointed members of the BoD had been sacked. But does it justify his motive to kill the duck that had been laying golden-eggs for crooks in so long a time? And why not give the poor a break?

I still recall when the BoD issued a suspension order to Gen. Manager Le Jayme Jalbuena for alleged misdeed in office, two months ago. It was past four in the afternoon and the next day is holiday until the next three more days.

Jalbuena did not receive the suspension order as there was no quorum by the BoD. Its two members were sacked by LUWA. Perhaps it is God’s will as the time and motive of the suspension order when served was highly suspicious that evil, it can only be!

As noted, the unaware employees were saddened by the news of the suspension order for Jalbuena. But not until Monday morning when the general manager reported to his office, all employees and the guards shouted in jubilation upon seeing he returned.

It is the other way around for the BoD when they walked away. The tragedy is not to go but having no one to remember you. The employees are my vital gauge of the situation. When they flocked to the side of GM Jalbuena, it only proved - divisiveness is the cost of finding the truth!