ILOILO CITY – Iloilo City Mayor Jose Espinosa is unfazed by the administrative and criminal charges cases filed against him by the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) for appointing a new set of board of directors.
The two counts of usurpation of official functions and one count of the violation of section 3 (e ) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and administrative cases for grave abuse of authority, gross negligence, gross misconduct and acts contrary to law were filed Thursday before the Office of the Ombudsman here in Iloilo.
“I am asserting our rights as residents of the city and being the larger majority consumers of MIWD to appoint our own Board of Directors that will fight and work for us. If fighting for the people of Iloilo City, armed with legal basis, will make me face a case against my position and myself, then I am willing to fight it. This will give me more courage to reclaim the rights of Iloilo City,” Espinosa said in a statement.
In a follow up interview, he said that he relied his act of appointing a new set of board officials on the recent Supreme Court decision that declared as unconstitutional Section 3 (b) of Presidential Decree 198. The provision states that the mayor of any city or municipality can make the appointment in the event that more than 75 percent of the total water active water connections of the local water district are within its boundary, otherwise, the appointing authority shall be the governor.
The current board of directors appointed by Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor include lawyer Juanito Acanto, Josephine Abad-Caram, Dr. Jessica Salas, Dr. Teodoro Robles and Ramon Cua-Locsin.
“All of their appointments are void from the very beginning. They should not be there. They should have resigned in the first place,” the mayor said, referring to the sitting board.
He added the law that served as basis for the appointment of the sitting board, which gave the governor the authority to appoint “has been declared by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional”.
Espinosa then appointed Felicito H. Tiu for the business sector; Rebecca L. Maravilla, women’s sector; Ray L. Celis, civic sector; Antonio C. Sangrador, professional and Ronald Raymund L. Sebastian for education. Their appointment that was done in May this year are yet to be confirmed by the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).
Espinosa also said he was “contemplating also on filing charges against them for overstaying”. He said he might ask them to return their salary since October.
“As mayor, I cannot go on another day if I will not be able to do something to address this age-old water problem of the city. It will be unconscionable if I will not put up or mount a fight for the people of Iloilo City,” he said. (PNA)
