LWUA chief named

MANILA, Philippines -  President Aquino has named Antonieta Ibe as member of the board of trustees and administrator of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to replace Orlando Hondrade.

But yesterday, LWUA chairman Prospero Pichay questioned the appointment over radio dzMM and claimed it should be recalled by Malacañang because their term at the agency runs until 2014.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, who made the announcement over dzRB last Sunday, said she was not aware of any opposition to the appointment.

Valte said there was no advice yet on whether to recall Ibe’s appointment to the LWUA.

She noted Pichay’s argument that their term would be up to 2014.

“I don’t know if he has put his concerns in writing for that specific matter,” Valte said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

Pichay said they would question the appointment of Ibe before the Supreme Court if it would not be recalled.

Earlier this month, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima filed with the Department of Justice a criminal complaint against board members of the LWUA, including Pichay.

The charges stemmed from LWUA’s alleged anomalous acquisition of a Laguna-based thrift bank in 2008, in which the government supposedly incurred losses of about P480 million.

Purisima said the respondents’ acts constituted malversation of public funds punishable under the Revised Penal Code.

Purisima filed the complaint in his concurrent capacity as member of the Monetary Board, the policy setter of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

He also filed a separate administrative complaint before the Office of the President.

Purisima said Pichay and other members of the LWUA board of trustees should be held liable for the alleged irregular acquisition of 60 percent of the outstanding shares of cash-strapped Express Savings Bank Inc. (EXSBI).

Other respondents named in the complaint were LWUA board members Renato Velasco, Susana Vargas, Bonifacio Maria Peña Sr. and Daniel Landingin.

Purisima also asked the DOJ to order a preventive suspension against the respondents to stop them “from exerting undue influence by intimidating subordinates and tampering with documentary evidence” while the department holds its preliminary investigation.

LWUA is a government-owned and controlled corporation, being a specialized lending institution for the promotion, development, and financing of local water utilities and depository of the reserves for capital improvement of local water utilities.

But the EXSBI has suffered deficiencies since 2005.

The bank posted a capital deficiency of more than P51 million by the end of 2009.

About 87 percent of the bank was originally controlled by the family of Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian.

In his complaint, Purisima questioned the LWUA’s infusion of P480 million in the “financially-troubled” bank using money from the government coffers.