THE joint venture agreement (JVA) entered into by the Dagupan City Water District with the Pamana Water Corporation (PWC) which was facilitated by the administration of Mayor Brian Lim is turning out to be a classic case of betrayal of public trust.

As attested to by 26 barangay chairmen in the city, what was earlier touted as an ideal partnership that would benefit consumers in the city with more efficient delivery of quality water, has become, in fact, the source of scourge for the city’s consumers. They are not only threatened by a plan of PWC to increase water rate without delivering on the JVA’s promised benefits, it appears to consumers that they are now helpless and powerless since PWC has effectively taken over all aspects of operations. The aspect of public accountability of the DCWD has been lost.

A glaring indication of betrayal of public trust is the bid of the PWC before the National Water Resources Board to be granted a franchise to operate the DCWD’s facility.  It means the JVA has given PWC full control of the DCWD operations without due process.

It behooves the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Dagupan to adopt a resolution to seek relief from the court, to protect the interests of city’s consumers from an onerous contract that negatively impacts on the city’s communities.

In fact, the Lim administration must be called to account why it has not made public the terms of the JVA that it crafted representing the city government’s interests to this day. And from all indications, Mayor Lim was in the center of it all and must, therefore, be made personally accountable to the city’s water consumers.

Water is a natural asset of a government. It must be served for the benefit of communities, not for the sole profit agenda of a private group.

 

Loser Leni

HAVEN’T you noticed?  Not even a whimper.  It’s all quiet on the opposition front.  That’s the response of the Leni Robredo camp to the overwhelming victory of Bongbong Marcos in the May 9 presidential election.  Never mind that Bongbong’s margin of winning votes over Leni had appeared strangely, crazily, too massive that it can easily be called a tsunami-like triumph.  Loser Leni is taking it all in stride, exhibiting humility in defeat rarely seen from one thoroughly thrashed in an election race.  She never howled in anger, never cried in protest.  Almost immediately after the unofficial results had showed Bongbong the clear winner, Leni rallied her supporters to accept “the verdict of the nation.”  Through her lawyer Romulo Macalintal, she reiterated that call even when Congress was half-done canvassing the election returns this week.

Grace under grinding pressure.

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