CEBU, Philippines - As Talisay City officials want to be represented in the board of directors of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District, MCWD general manager Armando Paredes advised them to nominate a representative to sit in the board.
"Our long term goal is to have one seat in the MCWD board," said Councilor Aldin Diaz, who is the chairman of the committee on Labor, Trade and Industry.
Diaz believes the city should have one representative in the board considering that most of MCWD's water supply comes from their city.
Diaz, however, said they will review the contract for the revision and evaluation of MCWD.
The firm's board currently has at least five representatives from different sectors, including educational institutions; business, commercial or financial organizations; civic-oriented service clubs; professional associations and women's organizations.
According to Paredes, the incumbency of the women's organizations representative is set to expire on December 31, 2014, on which the MCWD will open nomination for a director under women's sector.
MCWD public information officer Charmaine Rodriguez-Kara said the Talisay City will nominate from the women sector but it has to be Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama who is the appointing officer to the board.
Kara explained that the ruling on Presidential Decree No. 198 or the Local Water District Law provides that if more than 75 percent of the total concessionaires are found in the city, the appointing authority shall be the city mayor.
However, if the total number of concessionaires in the city is below 75 percent, the appointing authority shall be the governor.
In 2006, then governor Gwendolyn Garcia and former mayor Tomas Osmeña insisted they have the authority to name the board of directors.
The province has consistently maintained that under section 3(b) of Presidential Decree 198, otherwise known as the "Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973," the Governor of the Province of Cebu has the power to fill vacancies in the board where the total active water service connections in the City of Cebu in relation to the entire franchise area drops to a level less than 70 percent.
Cebu City, on the other hand, maintains that the said decree, promulgated during Martial Law, when the Cebu City was still a component political unit of the province, is no longer applicable considering that the city is now independent from the province. (FREEMAN)