BACOLOD City – The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 45 dismissed the petition filed by Amlig Tubig for a declaratory relief and declaration of nullity of the joint venture agreement (JVA) of the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) and Prime Water Infrastructure Corp. (Prime Water).
The ruling was stated in an order issued by Judge Phoebe Gargantiel-Balbin dated Nov. 11.
Balbin cited that “the ancillary prayer for issuance of writ of preliminary injunction was denied for lack of jurisdiction.”
“The temporary restraining order issued on Oct.27 is lifted. Thus, the scheduled hearing for the preliminary injunction set yesterday, Nov. 13 at 8:30 a.m. is cancelled,” the order stated.
Also, pursuant to Section 3 of Republic Act 8975 quoted early on, the court has no authority to issue the injunctive relief prayed for, it added.
On Oct. 16, convenors of Amlig Tubig filed a petition with application for issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and writ of preliminary injunction.
The RTC Branch 45 subsequently issued a 20-day restraining order to preserve the status quo until a case for preliminary injunction against the JVA is heard by the court. It also set a hearing for the petition on Nov. 11.
Rep. Pepito Pico of the Democratic Independent Workers’ Association (DIWA) party-list, one of the convenors of Amlig Tubig, said he was surprised that the scheduled hearing yesterday was cancelled and instead was given a copy of the order.
Pico disclosed that they intend to file a motion for reconsideration in relation to the dismissed petition.
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 in 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.”
Councilor Wilson Gamboa, however, claimed that the people of Bacolod were angry and enraged at the “highly disadvantageous contract” between Baciwa and Prime Water./PN
