Board told to discipline MIWD management

By Lydia C. Pendon

IT is within the ambit of powers of the Metro Iloilo Water district (MIWD) board of director to discipline erring employees especially the general manager and other recalcitrant management officials, according to City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Fresh from his sojourn in the United States, Mabilog said he is talking with lawyers to determine the culpability of MIWD officials led by general manager Le Jayme Jalbuena and administrative division chief Jo Amarylis Castro for instigating the Local Waterworks Utilities Administration (LWUA) to take over the water district last week.

LWUA administrator Daniel Landingin cited provisions of Presidential Decree 198 that the city must have 75 percent of water concessionaires before the city mayor can have the power to appoint members of the board of directors.

But Mabilog maintained that the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the city of Iloilo created MIWD in 1955 and it follows that the city has also the power to abolish and dissolve the water district.

MIWD is operating inside Iloilo City territorial jurisdiction and the management must give due respect to the city mayor. This particular issue must be resolved before the end of this month, he said.

“The board must have political will because they have the power to discipline the erring management but it failed to perform its function. I can not understand why it failed to instill discipline. It should have filed cases against the management a long time ago,” Mabilog said.

The city mayor also charged the management of having vested interest in the bulk water supply with some of them having big trucks engaged in water supply delivery.

Mabilog said that with their vested interest, the management led by Jalbuena continues on delaying the bidding process so that they will continue with their private water business. The bidding for bulk water supply of about 30,000 cubic meters per day is expected to augment the present very poor water supply in the city.

“The management must think more of the public interest than of themselves and their businesses,” Mabilog said.

The city mayor reiterated that LWUA has no power on MIWD operations and the water agency must know and understand its territorial jurisdiction.