Osmeña files raps against Labella, LWUA for terminating MCWD board

Former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña (left) and Incumbent Mayor Edgar Labella (right). | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña filed cases of usurpation of authority and grave misconduct against Mayor Edgardo Labella and and Jeci Lapus, the acting administrator of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), for “illegaly” terminating the five Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) Board of Directors. 

Among the five terminated, Osmeña appointed four. These are Joel Yu, Augustus Pe, Cecilia Adlawan, and Ralph Sevilla.  Only Procopio Fernandez was appointed by previous mayor and now Vice Mayor Michael Rama. 

Yu resigned from his post a week after Labella’s termination on October 15, 2019, while Fernandez chose to heed the mayor’s termination. 

Read: Labella sacks MCWD board of directors

The three remaining terminated board continue to pursue the case against Labella and LWUA as they revealed a December 5, 2019 letter where LWUA stated Labella did not follow the termination process. 

In the letter, LWUA said that Labella did not follow due process because the termination was done without notice for hearing and he did not give the terminated board a chance to answer the accusation against them.

“Point blank, LWUA Acting Manager Jeci Lapus told Mayor Labella that it was illegal for him to terminate MCWD Directors (Ralph) Sevilla, (Cecilia) Adlawan, and (Jun) Pe. It is unconscionable for Mayor Labella, who is a lawyer and former Ombudsman director, to have done an illegal act,” said Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, the legal counsel of Osmeña and the terminated MCWD board. 

In his affidavit filed at the Office of the Ombudsman on February 3, 2020, Osmeña said that Lapus agreed to the termination of the MCWD board on October 1, 2019, but later issued a notice for explanation on the subjects of the termination on October 24, 2019. 

Read: Terminated MCWD Board continues to question Labella’s termination order

Prior to that, Lapus already appointed an interim board to take over MCWD on October 21, 2019. 

For Osmeña’s camp, the changing decisions of the LWUA shows that Lapus has “connived” with Labella in the termination of the MCWD board 

“The answer is simple— Respondents Mayor Labella and Lapus is a case of conspiracy gone awry. Theirs is a charade that was not well coordinated in its execution. They must be held fully accountable for the mess they created,” said Osmeña in the affidavit. 

In a phone interview, Labella said he has not received a copy of the complaint yet, but said he will answer all of Osmeña’s allegations in the proper forum. 

“It is his right to file a case. The question now is if he can prove it,” said the mayor. /bmjo