Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Inc. (COBI), a unit of Metro Pacific Water, asked Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) to settle its P479-million debt in installment to resume supplying water to the water distributor.
“We do not even require COWD to immediately pay the full amount of our claims, but rather to settle the undisputed portion of their debt by way of installments, and the parties can then proceed to amicably discuss the disputed portion of our claim,” COBI said in a statement.
COBI said the decision to cut off water supply to COWD was a joint decision with Rio Verde Water Consortium, which is “the only way COWD would take the matter seriously”.
COBI said it made massive investment on the premise that COWD would make true on its promise to comply with its contractual obligations.
“Notwithstanding COWD’s default in its agreement, we patiently waited for years to come to an amicably resolution of the matter. Sadly, our plight was ignored by COWD for reasons unknown to us,” it said.
“The decision to cut-off supply of water to COWD is something that we do not take lightly. This is why we exhausted all possible means to resolve the issue, including requesting mediation by LWUA. Our representatives have been flying in and out of Cagayan de Oro for the past year trying to settle the issue,” COBI said.
It said that after a meeting on April 30, 2024, with the COWD chairman, the board of the water district could not even form a quorum on the day of the meeting, which brings into question the seriousness of COWD to amicably resolve the matter.
“Together with RV, we agreed to cut off the water supply to COWD because we felt that is the only way COWD would take the matter seriously. To be clear, the decision to cut-off water supply to COWD was a joint decision by COBI and Rio Verde, which we took very seriously and after painful deliberation, and with the full intention of immediately restoring water supply as soon as COWD comes back to the negotiating table and shows seriousness in resolving the issue,” it said.
A Commission on Audit (COA) report for 2022 earlier flagged concerns about the financial management and operations of the COWD, one of the Philippines’ largest water distributors by asset value.
The COA report recommended corrective measures and improvements to COWD’s internal controls, operational efficiency, and financial reporting.