Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella. | CDN Digital FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines –Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella urged the incoming general manager of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) to recognize the authority of the Local Water Utility Administration (LWUA) to appoint an interim board after he terminated the water district’s five-man board of directors (BOD) on October 15, 2019.
A new general manager, Stephen Yee, will be taking over MCWD following the resignation of Jose Eugenio Singson Jr. effective November 1, 2019.
Labella urged the MCWD management to respect LWUA’s authority as interim board as the notice for termination is still being reviewed by LWUA.
“We respect the appeal of the Board of Directors. For all intents and purposes, the board that I ordered to be dismissed is no longer functioning. What is function is the interim board sent by LWUA Manila to handle MCWD while the notice for termination is being reviewed,” said Labella on Wednesday, October 23, 2019.
Three board members whom Labella has terminated remains in their posts, as they insisted the termination was illegal.
Following the resignation of chairman Joel Mari Yu on October 22, August Pe has been assigned by the board as the acting chairman. Board members Ralph Sevilla (vice chairman) and Cecilia Adlawan (secretary) also opted to stay and contest Labella’s termination order.
However, Procopio Fernandez, another board member, has expressed his desire to step down and follow the termination order of Labella.
The mayor said LWUA’s decision to appoint an interim board only means that MCWD is currently in an “institutional crisis” with no concrete board, prompting the agency to take action.
He urged the remaining board to wait for LWUA’s decision and allow the interim board to function so that operations of MCWD will not be affected by the shake up atp the board’s level.
The mayor also said he has put off looking for a new board of directors until LWUA has approved and finalized the termination. /elb