Garcia orders consortium to stop digging wells in Carmen town

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia during her founding anniversary speech at the Capitol Social Hall. (Contributed Photo/ CAPITOL PIO)

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has ordered a consortium here to stop digging deep wells in Carmen town, northern Cebu.

Garcia issued Executive Order (EO) No. 26, directing Cebu Manila Water Development Inc. (CMWDI) to immediately cease and desist the digging of two wells at the Cebu Water Cantumog Carmen Pumping Station in Carmen.

The governor’s new EO is the latest action the Capitol has made against Manila Water Consortium (MWC) in relation to the breaches in the Joint Investment Agreement (JIA) the latter allegedly committed.

“In order to protect the interests of the Province of Cebu, it was agreed that any and all operations relative to the digging of deep wells three (3) and four (4) of CMWDI located in Cebu Water Cantumog Carmen Pumping Station, Carmen, Cebu would immediately stop,” portions of the document read.

Garcia has ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to assist in the enforcement of the EO, which was signed on October 2, 2020.

To recall, in August 2019, shortly after she was reelected in office, Garcia sent a Notice of Breach / Default to MWC when her legal consultants reported violations in the joint venture.

Last September, the Provincial Board (PB) had also given Garcia permission to file complaints on behalf of the Cebu Provincial Government against MWC pertaining to the JIA.

The Province inked a JIA with Manila Water for a P702-million project for the development of water supply facilities, tapping the surface water of Luyang River in Carmen town, northern Cebu.

Upon their review, the Capitol’s legal consultants found that the project cost for the water supply facility was bloated to P1.003 billion, or P301 million more.

The Capitol also claimed of not receiving any profit share from the joint investment project, which was supposed to be at 19.23 percent because the province’s shares of the earnings were plowed into its 49 percent share in the P301 million additional investment for the capital.

Aside from this, the selling price of the water produced by CMWDI also increased to P24.59, or P10.64 more than the agreed original price of P13.95.

Last December, the PB authorized Garcia to terminate the JIA with Manila Water after the latter’s failure to cure the said breaches.

/bmjo