BACOLOD City – The Regional Trial Court Branch 45 has issued a 20-day restraining order to stop the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) and Prime Water Infrastructure Corp. (Prime Water) from carrying out their 25-year joint venture agreement.
The ruling was stated in a two-page order issued by Judge Phoebe Gargantiel-Balbin dated Oct. 27.
The temporary restraining order was meant to preserve status quo until a case for preliminary injunction against the agreement is heard by the court.
Balbin set a hearing for the petition for injunction filed by Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. and former congressman Pepito Pico of the party-list group Diwa on Nov. 9.
“We are thankful that we have been given temporary relief that the Joint Venture Agreement of Baciwa and Prime Water will not be implemented on Nov. 1,” Gamboa said.
In July, Baciwa signed a joint venture agreement with Prime Water for the management and development of the city’s water utility.
Lawyer Lorendo Dilag, chairman of the Baciwa board, earlier said Prime Water will infuse a total of P6.8 billion in terms of projects.
Of the total amount, Prime Water will infuse P1.6 billion for the first five years for the pipe laying and repair of pipes, P2 billion on the fifth year and a total of P6.8 billion for 25 years.
The deal, according to Dilag, was “practical, necessary and beneficial” for Bacolod City because Baciwa “has no financial capacity on its own to fund an expansion project that will answer the need for more water.”
Gamboa, however, claimed that the people of Bacolod were angry and enraged at the “highly disadvantageous contract” between Baciwa and Prime Water./PN
