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Friday, March 29, 2024

Leyte Water a big mess, says GM

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A TOP official of the Leyte Metropolitan Water District has appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to look into the alleged irregularities in his agency to guarantee the better delivery of potable water and to address the problem of the directors in the agency.

In his open letter to Duterte, LMWD acting general manager Pastor Homeres accused the old board appointed by the Leyte governor of allegedly using dummy contractors for the office building on A. Mabini Street in Tacloban City, the purchase of vehicles, the repair of the Nulatula building office in Tacloban City, and the pipeline projects in Gacao and San Isidro, both in Palo, Leyte.

“Mr. President, I thank the people here for their continued support. Had it not been for them and for the majority of my employees, I would not have been here to expose what is happening to my directors at the Leyte Metropolitan Water District who had been appointed by the Leyte governor,” said Homeres who heads the LMWD, a government-owned and -controlled corporation.

“For years I kept mum about the dark side of the office, but now that more than the majority of the employees of Leyte Metropolitan Water District have withdrawn support from the Board of Directors appointed by the Leyte governor, I now have the courage to expose to the public the pressing concerns of the office.”

Homeres said the immediate response of the President would help accomplish the “clamor of the consuming public for an improved water supply in Tacloban City and some municipalities [of Leyte], which for years had not been properly attended to, the problem of water supply to the Tacloban North permanent resettlement area which, to date, had already about 10,000 families, and the pipeline rehabilitation and water loss of the LMWD which were not being supported properly.

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He said Tacloban City Mayor Cristina Romualdez had appointed the new board in light of a Supreme Court ruling that the mayor of a highly-urbanized city, independent and chartered city had the authority to appoint local water district board members if the residents of that city were the majority customers of the water district.

“Mr. President, anchored on the recently decided case of the Supreme Court, Hon. Cristina Romualdez exercised her mandate and appointed a new Board of Directors for LMWD, which had already assumed their duties and functions and were given due recognition and full support by the employees and the undersigned,” said Homeres.

“With the insistence of the Board appointed by the Leyte Governor to still be the legitimate directors, the peace and order have continued to be disrupted.”

With the ruling, after more than 10 years the management of LMWD has finally reverted back to the City Government of Tacloban.

On Jan. 18, the City Government appointed directors Roberto Muñoz, Bautista Corpin, Jenny Lyn Manibay, Sharilee Angela Gaspay and Bernardita Valenzuela to govern the water utility company.

 Later, the board issued a resolution re-appointing Homeres as acting general manager of LMWD.

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