CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Tensions further escalated on Tuesday, July 23, as a group led by local politicians staged another street protest, disrupting the flow of vehicular traffic in downtown Cagayan de Oro, to pressure the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to keep off the local water district.

Angry protesters also demanded the rescinding of a 2017 contract between the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) and its primary supplier of treated water.

The street demonstration, organized by the Bantay Tubig Movement (BTM), caused a section of Corrales Avenue to be closed to vehicular traffic.

The street protest came barely a week after sidelined COWD General Manager Antonio Young took back control of the water utility firm after a contentious LWUA takeover last May.

“The Bantay Tubig Movement is not limited to the interim officers. No matter who is managing it, until the contract is voided, we will continue protesting,” former Cagayan de Oro councilor and BMT lead convenor Enrico Salcedo told Rappler.

Salcedo’s group has questioned the 2017 contract between COWD and the Manny V. Pangilinan-controlled Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Incorporated (COBI), which allows the supplier to adjust water rates every three years.

The group said the provision in the contract meant rate increases every three years, seen as very disadvantageous to water consumers in the city.

The BTM also supported the COWD workers’ call for the removal of the interim officers following the issuance of a Department of Justice (DOJ) legal opinion about the LWUA takeover last May.

Marlo Tabac, a barangay chairman serving as BMT co-convenor, cautioned the LWUA-installed COWD interim general manager, Fermin Jarales, against attempting to enter the COWD’s main office again, saying his group was prepared to guard the establishment 24 hours a day.

Jarales and members of the COWD interim board recognized by the LWUA have been ordered barred from the COWD offices by Young.

Salcedo issued a veiled threat. He said, “If Jarales doesn’t insist on entering the COWD office, he can leave unscathed.”

The ex-councilor, who serves as head of city hall’s night market team, also called on LWUA officials to withdraw the interim officers’ appointments to avoid further confusion and resolve the issues caused by the 2017 contract, an agreement made when Salcedo was a member of the city council.

Jarales has criticized Young, saying he and his supporters “resorted to illegal measures” last Thursday, July 18, by forcing their way into the COWD office he (Jarales) was using. The office was Young’s before the LWUA takeover.

The act, according to Jarales, was a display of “mismanagement and disregard for legal processes.”

“Their refusal to provide necessary documents to LWUA and obstruction of the interim management’s efforts raise serious questions about their commitment to consumer welfare. What are they trying to hide?” read a statement released by Jarales on Monday, July 22.

Jarales also asserted that Young’s reliance on a mere DOJ opinion “will not shield him from accountability,” warning that there would be legal repercussions.

For his part, Young said he was prepared to face a potential case against him even as he questioned the legal basis of Jarales and other LWUA-installed interim officers in taking over the water district.

“We are not hiding anything,” Young said, responding to Jarales’ statement.

He said they have been asking Jarales to show a written order from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which Jarales supposedly cited in previous interviews.

Young said he and other COWD officials would comply if there was an order from Marcos, but the LWUA has yet to show that there was.

During his last visit to Cagayan de Oro, Marcos directed the LWUA to look into the possibility of a takeover following a brief water supply crisis in the city which resulted from the COWD’s unresolved debt dispute with COBI. The supplier has been trying to collect more than P400 million from COWD, a debt Young and the regular COWD board has repeatedly refused to acknowledge. – Rappler.com