MindanaoToday.com | COWD official echoes call for termination of ‘disadvantageous’ water deal contract
By: Jigger Jerusalem
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – An official of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) has joined the call to terminate the utility’s bulk water supply contract with Metro Pacific Water (Metro Pac) which he deems as “disadvantageous” to the city’s consumers.
Dr. Gerry Caño, COWD board member and head of the utility’s technical working group, said that while the joint venture agreement (JVA) signed between COWD and Metro Pac is binding, certain provisions in the contract that may be detrimental to the general public’s interest could be grounds for its revocation.
According to the COWD’s website (cowd.gov.ph), the JVA between Metro Pac and COWD was signed Aug. 15, 2018, although in the Metro Pac website (metropacificwater.com) it was stated that the JVA signing took place a year earlier, Aug. 14, 2017.
A copy of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Form 17-C submitted by Metro Pac to the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Disclosure Department also stated Aug. 14, 2017 as the date of the JVA signing.
“It does not mean that if a contract is binding, it could no longer be reviewed or scrutinized by a court. There could provisions in the contract that violate the laws, for instance, in the Civil Code of the Philippines, which states that if there is a contract that is considered unlawful, against national security, or tramples on the basic rights of the people, these could be grounds to invalidate or terminate the contract,” Caño told reporters on the sidelines of the series of inquiry conducted by the city government on March 13.
Launched on Monday, March 11, the investigation on the water issue, as ordered by Mayor Rolando Uy, is expected to wrap up Friday, March 15.
Earlier, Uy has assured the Kagay-anons that should COBI stop providing water to COWD, an entity is willing to supply the city with water.
Caño also said that the contract has no provision that allows COBI to cut off its water supply to COWD should the latter fail to settle its payables that has already reached P426 million. The amount was based on the water rate adjustment COBI has implemented every three years starting in 2020.
For his part, Engr. Antonio Young, COWD general manager, has said the water utility has no debt to COBI as the former has been paying the bulk water supplier P16.60 per cubic meter of water since 2020. This rate remained unchanged even when COBI increased the price to P20.57 per cubic meter in 2021 and again to P24.19 per cubic meter in 2024.
Young said COWD has cited “force majeure,” particularly the global pandemic brought by the Covid-19 in 2020, as one of the major reasons why the utility did not pay the increased rate imposed by COBI.
Caño said he welcomes the mayor’s pronouncement since the government, be it local or national, can exercise its “police power” in the event of crisis or emergency.
“This power can be invoked to ensure the welfare of the general public,” he said.
Caño added he is optimistic that all concerned parties, especially Metro Pac and COWD, will go back to the negotiating table for a solution favorable to all. (MT)
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