ILOILO City – The Sangguniang Panlungsod’s committee on public utilities is not seeking anymore the Office of the Solicitor General’s (OSG) opinion on the supposed authority of the city council to approve a water distribution franchise.
According to committee chairperson Councilor Plaridel Nava, the OSG process is tedious “so it will drag the issue.”
Prime Water Infrastructure Corp. applied for a water distribution franchise in this city. Nava’s committee is expected to come up with a recommendation.
The councilor previously said he wanted OSG’s opinion first because his committee was “confronted with varying legal points of view” from concerned groups for and against the Prime Water franchise application.
“I was not able to get the OSG’s opinion. There were processes to follow, I was told. The OSG needed all the necessary documents and it must have time to study these before issuing an opinion. So it will drag the issue,” said Nava.
The councilor said he also went to the Department of Interior and Local Government central office and spoke with Assistant Secretary Marjorie Jalosjos regarding the matter, and specifically for a review of the previous opinion of then Undersecretary Austere Panadero.
He was told the DILG needed at least six months to review the previous opinion of then Undersecretary Austere Panadero, said Nava.
Early this year, Panadero stated that only the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) can issue a water and sanitation franchise. He cited Presidential Decree (PD) 1076 or the Water Code of the Philippines – the law that governed the ownership, appropriation, utilization, exploitation, development, conservation, and protection of water resources.
The DILG opinion was on the water and sanitation franchise of South Balibago Resources, Inc. which the city council granted in 2016, as a reply to the query of Councilor R Leone Gerochi.
Metro Iloilo Water District questioned the granting of franchise to South Balibago. The case is now pending in court./PN
