MCWD BOARD CASE: Defendants ordered to reply to injunction

CEBU, Philippines - Regional Trial Court Judge Gilbert Moises ordered the defendants the Cebu City, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District and south district Rep. Tomas Osmeña to file their opposition to the amended motion for injunction filed by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.

Moises gave ten days to the defendants to file their opposition and furnish a copy to Garcia.

Lawyer Benjamin Militar representing Juan Saul Montecillo, who was appointed by Mayor Michael Rama to the MCWD board, said they will file a motion for intervention.

He said the said motion will fully protect Montecillo as he is not a defendant of the case and so he can finally sit as MCWD Board member.

Earlier, Garcia asked the court to stop Rama and other Cebu City officials from appointing new members of the board of directors of the MCWD.

Garcia requested Moises to issue a permanent mandatory and prohibitory injunction against the Cebu City officials, because she heard that Rama had already appointed former city councilor Manuel Legaspi and reappointed Montecillo as members of MCWD board.

Garcia asked the court to order Rama to withdraw the appointments of both Montecillo and Legaspi and stop them from appointing members of MCWD board as the task belonged to her.

The court already resolved the conflict on who has the right to appoint members to the MCWD board in favor of the governor. (FREEMAN NEWS)