This question was resolved after a judge here affirmed the independence of the Koronadal Water District (KWD) from the political control of the city mayor, citing the law that created the water agency.
In a four-page ruling last May 20, Judge Oscar Dinopol of Regional Trial Court Branch 24 here ruled that the mayor "has no authority to recall the board of any water district nor take over its operations."
Dinopol’s decision nullified the "recall order" issued by Mayor Fernando Miguel for the appointments of the five-member KWD board of directors headed by engineer Allan Yaphuckon, chairman and representative of the city’s business sector.
In an earlier interview, Miguel, who was re-elected, said he has the authority to recall the appointments of the KWD directors, adding that his "power to appoint carries also the power to recall."
Local observers described Dinopol’s ruling as a "precedent" considering the fact that there are about 600 local water districts around the country, which for them, are "open to political intervention."
The court also ordered KWD cashier Amy Aguirre to compensate job orders since Dec. 16-31, 2003.
It also directed Aguirre to pay the per diems of the KWD directors since September 2003, including their meals during board meetings since October 2003.
The court specifically named Eleanor Gomba, KWD general manager, and Roy Fuscablo as signatories of these payments.
The KWD directors contested Miguel’s recall order by filing a "special civil action (for) mandamus and damages with application for a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction."
In his ruling, Dinopol said that although Presidential Decree (PD) 198 clearly mandates the creation of local water utilities, it did not explicitly authorize local governments to control and supervise them.
He quoted Section 6 of PD 198 as stating, "This Act is the source of authorization and power to form and maintain a district. Once formed, a district is subject (to) the provisions of this Act, and not under the jurisdiction of any political subdivision."
"All that a local government, through its legislative department, can do is to file and approve a resolution creating a water district, but prohibits it to ‘dissolve, alter or affect the district,’" the provision further states.
Also, Dinopol said PD 768, which amended PD 198, clearly says that local water works owned by the city are "ipso facto" transferred to the water district upon passage by the legislative body of a resolution, thus, the local government loses ownership, supervision and control, or any right, over the water district.
"In other words, by this amendatory decree, the City of Koronadal, and corollary, the mayor lost ownership, control and supervision long before the mayor issued a contested recall letter on Oct. 2, 2003," Dinopol said.