Guv has right to appoint MCWD board members

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Trial Court ruled Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has the right to appoint the members of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).

With the decision, the court nullified the appointment of Joel Mari Yu as member of MCWD Board when he was appointed by then Cebu City mayor, now south district Rep. Tomas Osmeña.

“Wherefore, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against defendants finding the appointment of defendant Joel Mari S. Yu as member of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) as illegal, null and void,” RTC Judge Gilbert Moises said in his decision.

With this development, Garcia told reporters yesterday that as far as the decision is concerned, it does “serve notice that no further vacancies in the board may be filled by anybody else except the governor.”

Garcia wants to know the position of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama since the case started during the term of his predecessor, Osmeña.

“I don’t know what the position is of the present occupant in City Hall but I trust that his years in training as a lawyer would lead him to a more rational position as compared to his predecessor,” Garcia said.

But in a separate interview, Osmeña and Yu told The FREEMAN that they will utilize all legal remedies to appeal the lower court’s decision up to the Supreme Court.

Osmeña said that the law Garcia used as basis is already outdated when Cebu City was still part of Cebu City.

Garcia filed civil case against Osmeña, Yu and the MCWD on June 13, 2009 for the declaration of nullity of appointment as member of the MCWD board of directors with application for a writ or preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order.

Osmeña appointed Yu when a vacancy in the MCWD board occurred when its member, lawyer Adelino Sitoy, deemed to have automatically resigned as member upon his election as mayor of Cordova.

Relying on section 3 of the Presidential Decree No. 198, Garcia claimed that she has the right to appoint the members of the board of directors of MCWD, particularly where the total active service connections of MCWD within Cebu City is below 75 percent.

Osmeña, on the other hand, claimed the authority tracing the history of the creation of the water district in 1902 through the auspices of Don Sergio Osmeña Sr.

The water system became known as Osmeña Waterworks System and eventually became subject of the control, direction and supervision of the City of Cebu in 1964 in accordance with its charter. By virtue of PD 198, also known as Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973, the Osmeña Waterworks System was converted into the Metropolitan Cebu Water System.

Osmeña said that the Province of Cebu never invested any amount nor participated in the creation of MCWD.

The Court cited section 3 of PD 198 that if more than 75 percent of the total active water service connections of a local water district are within the boundary of any city or municipality, the appointing authority shall be the mayor of the city or municipality, as the case may be; otherwise, the appointing authority shall be the governor of the province within which the district is located. — /WAB (FREEMAN)