CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama’s appointed chairman of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District’s (MCWD) board of directors (BOD) has insisted on the validity of his appointment by citing Presidential Decree (PD) 198.
Melquiades Feliciano, a retired military general, said PD 198 authorizes the mayor to appoint a new BOD.
However, an official of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) cited the same law to say otherwise.
“Just like previously, the old board, silang tulo (lawyer Jose Daluz III, Miguelito Pato and Jodelyn May Seno), they were appointed by the late mayor (Edgardo) Labella before they took over the board of the MCWD,” Feliciano said in a press conference on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.
Daluz, Pato and Seno had replaced board members Cecilia Adlawan, Augustus Pe Jr. and Ralph Sevilla.
But in a letter dated Oct. 17, and signed by LWUA administrator Vicente Homer Revil and legal department manager Roberto San Andres, the government-owned and –controlled corporation said “local executives have no authority to remove the chairperson and members of the board of directors of a water district.”
LWUA said it found no legal basis to issue a certificate of no objection that the Cebu City Government had requested for the removal of Daluz, Pato and Seno.
The letter addressed to then city legal officer Jerone Castillo was received by MCWD on Monday, Nov. 6.
Castillo, on Tuesday, questioned the legality of the letter, saying it came from the administrator. He said the City’s request was addressed to LWUA’s board of trustees (BOT).
Without the BOT’s concurrence, the letter’s content is a mere opinion because it does not carry any legal weight, he said.
He said LWUA should have transmitted the letter dated Oct. 17 on the same day, considering that the City forwarded its request on Aug. 17.
“The LWUA waited for two months before they transmitted the letter... under the principle of self-preservation, the mayor cannot wait because of the urgency of the matter at hand... the mayor has taken his stance. It is a legal stance (which is) based on legal and solid foundation,” he said.
He said the letter has no effect on the new BOD.
“We stick with our position. We believe and we are firm that we are doing this in accordance with strong legal grounds,” Castillo said.
He said the statement “local executives have no authority to remove” would bring them back to another issue, pointing out that the local chief had removed three board members so Daluz, Pato and Seno could assume office.
“Dapat manaog na na sila Daluz, Pato and Seno kon mao nay position sa LWUA kay wa man diay authority ang local executive,” he said.
(Daluz, Pato and Seno should step down if that is LWUA’s position that the local executive has no authority to remove.)
The letter cited Section 7 of PD 198, which states that upon filing a resolution to form a water district, “the local government or governments concerned shall lose ownership, supervision and control or any right whatsoever over the district except as provided therein.”
It also cited Department of the Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular 2016-146, which states that “water districts are autonomous agencies independent of local governments. It should be best that they are allowed to operate without the least hindrance and interference from the local officials but with (a) maximum support and assistance.”
However, Feliciano pointed out that the City went through the process before it appointed him, lawyer Aristotle Batuhan and businessman Nelson Yuvallos to replace Daluz, Pato and Seno.
“On Aug. 17, the communication was sent to the LWUA, the board... acted on it, but unfortunately along the way it was not implemented for unknown reasons,” Feliciano said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
He said Mayor Rama was forced to remove Daluz, Pato and Seno due to some concerns with the MCWD.
Settle the question
In a text message on Tuesday, Daluz said he hopes the letter from LWUA “will settle any question on authority.”
“I hope that all parties will accept this decision and we can move forward,” he said.
He also said they will “make efforts not to allow” members of the new board “to use any facilities of MCWD.”
Feliciano and the new BOD met inside the MCWD board room on Tuesday.
“Apparently they were with the two BOD members, so we booked the three as visitors... We hope they will comply with LWUA so as not to escalate the situation,” Daluz said.
Earl Bonachita and Danilo Ortiz, who served in the MCWD board with Daluz, renewed their oath last Oct. 31 and supported Rama’s appointment of the three new directors.
Four Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) vehicles were seen outside the MCWD building in downtown Cebu City while the new board met.
Feliciano, in a text message, said the City Legal Office had sent the Swat team.
On Oct. 31, in the absence of LWUA’s action, Rama removed Daluz, Pato and Seno from the BOD on the basis of graft and corruption and loss of trust and confidence.
In a text message on Tuesday, Rama said he could not comment on the new development as he had yet to receive a copy of LWUA’s letter.
Rama said the matter is now in the hands of City Administrator Collin Rosell and Budget and Finance Officer Castillo.
Totally erroneous
Meanwhile, Carlo Vincent Gimena, the current city legal officer, said the “assailed response or statement from certain personnel of LWUA is totally erroneous, misplaced and unfounded.”
Gimena said the LWUA board should be the one to pass a resolution with regard to the City’s request for a certificate of no objection.
Gimena questioned the authority of the signatory of the statement, stating: “What is the authority of those who responded to such (a) request? Do they have any authority from the LWUA board as a collegial body to make such (a) written response?”
He asked for a certified copy of the LWUA board resolution which authorized the signatories of the response statement. Without it, he said he will deem the statement as unauthorized.
He said the statement is inaccurate and in contrast to the statutory provision, which is “the power to appoint carries with it the power to remove or discipline (Aguirre vs. De Castro, G.R. No. 127631, Dec. 17, 1999).
He cited Section 3 of PD 198 and the case of Rama versus Moises, G.R. No. 197146, Dec. 6, 2016, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the mayor of Cebu City “has the power to appoint the members of the board of directors of MCWD.”
He also cited Section 5 of PD 768, which amended PD 198, which states that “directors may be removed for cause only, subject to review and approval of the administration.”
“As such, on the basis thereof, it is obvious that Mayor Rama has the power to remove the members of the board of directors of MCWD since there is no contrary statutory provision that categorically says that he does not have that power,” Gimena said.
He also said the LWUA board should have acted on the City’s request for a certificate of no objection within the maximum period of 20 working days as provided for under Republic Act (RA) 11032 in relation to Arta (Anti-Red Tape Authority) Memorandum Circular 2020-05.
However, in a live video broadcast via the Cebu Updates Facebook page, former city administrator Floro Casas Jr. said RA 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018, is applicable only to business transactions, and not to the issue at hand.
He said the issue involves administration of laws, and the interpretation of laws in the provisions of PD 198.
He said the City should have waited for LWUA’s decision regarding Daluz’s removal as MCWD chairman under the rule of law.
He said Rama’s action led to the appointment of three board directors who may be considered as “fake directors.”
“The three directors... were forcibly removed from MCWD para pasudlon niya (Rama) ang fake nga mga directors nga iyang na-appoint without any legal basis,” Casas said.
(Daluz, Pato, Seno... were forcibly removed from MCWD so Rama could install his fake directors whom he appointed without any legal basis.)
In a statement sent to VoxPop Cebu on Monday, Nov. 6, Ronnie Ong, chairman of LWUA’s BOT, said they already approved on Sept. 28 Resolution 35, which allowed the appointment of an interim or temporary BOD for MCWD.
He said they gave LWUA management through Revil seven days to implement the resolution, which the latter did not do.
VoxPop Cebu tried to get Revil’s side on the issue, but to no avail.
Former mayor Tomas Osmeña, in a separate interview on Tuesday, said people should realize by now that there is only one law in the land, “and that is Rama’s law.”
“You know that even the President cannot fire any judge for ‘lack of confidence’ or any reason. Rama's law is absolute,” Osmeña said in a text message.
VoxPop Cebu also tried to get a statement from acting mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia on the matter, but he had yet to respond. (with EHP, WBS, JJL)
