THE Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) continues to operate its deep wells despite the cease and desist order (CDO) issued by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) on November 10.
Baciwa general manager Juliana Carbon said Tuesday, December 12, that she has not yet received an official copy of the order.
"We continue our operations because as of Tuesday, December 12, we have not received an official copy of the NWRB's order," she said.
On November 10, the NWRB issued a CDO to the Baciwa on the operation of its 14 deep wells without a water permit.
The complaint was filed by concerned citizen John Sy against the management of Baciwa in 2016.
Carbon explained that of the 14 deep wells mentioned in the order, only six deep wells are utilized by Baciwa and the rest are still applications for water permits.
She said the water permit applications have been pending for almost two years.
"So it is not 14 operating deep wells, it's only six," Carbon said.
The Baciwa official said that as soon as they will have a copy of the order, they will endorse it to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel for appropriate legal action and remedies.
If it is final and executory, the operation will be stopped and they could file a motion for reconsideration, she added.
Baciwa assistant general manager for operations Jenelyn Gemora said the six operating deep wells are located in Barangay Handumanan Phase-6B, Villa Alexandra, Woodside Subdivision, Barangay Vista Alegre, Barangay Granada, and Residencia Royal.
"If it will be stopped, it will also affect the benefiting consumers in said areas," she said.
The order addressed to Carbon stated "that in the ocular inspection conducted by the monitoring and enforcement staff of NWRB on April 3 to 7, 2017 at your premise, it was found out you are appropriating/utilizing 14 deep well sources located in Bacolod City without the benefit of water permits from the National Resources Board in violation of Article 13 of the Water Code of the Philippines."
It added that "(i)n the interest of due process, this Board issued a show cause order dated May 29, 2017, directing you to submit a written explanation under oath justifying said infraction."
Baciwa had complied and sent its reply dated July 14, 2017, stating that most of the subject deep wells were merely turned over by subdivision developers to Baciwa, which upon verification, do not have corresponding water permits.
