New MCWD board members

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City acting mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has announced that he will be appointing new members of the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) board soon to also fill up the position vacated by lawyer Jose Daluz III who stepped down as the Chairman of Board.

Now that he is compelled by the law to assume the mayoralty post in a permanent capacity, Garcia told reporters yesterday (Monday) he is set to appoint new members of the MCWD board as he already has some names that were submitted to him.

He said that it is important that he will be appointing new members of the board otherwise there will only be two members left hence cannot officially transact business.

Daluz has stepped down as MCWD chairman to pursue his political plans to run for vice mayor. This now leaves Jodelyn Mae Seno and Miguelito Pato as the two active members of the board.

This is also after he received a letter from the MCWD citing that two members of the board were no longer attending and performing their duties.

With the pronouncement, it leaves vacancy from the posts of two other board members, Atty. Danilo V. Ortiz and Atty. Earl M. Bonachita.

Garcia previously explained that if a post is vacated inside the MCWD, despite being an independent autonomy, the mayor of the LGU has the appointing power for the board members. Right now, he said that there are at least four vacancies following Pato’s end of term this December.

As of yesterday, Garcia announced that he will be asking Dr. Carlo Maamo to no longer run for public office and to be the third member of the MCWD board. Maamo was among those introduced during the induction of officers of KUSUG Party last September 23, 2024.

It was also previously reported that Garcia has tapped Maamo as his new medical consultant.

“If you will ask me (if he is gonna be) chairman or not, that is not up to me that is up to the board because they will just elect their chairman,” said Garcia.

He also added that it is aligned with the thought of reelecting Pato once his term expires. Garcia also said that he is keen on having a diverse set of members of the MCWD board.

“I want to have a lawyer, I want to have an engineer, I want to have a doctor, and so far mao naman na kong nakit-an,” said Garcia.

Garcia also said that among the names that have also surfaced are lawyers Bong Pepito and Jerry Carillon.

Garcia would soon have authority to appoint these positions as he is set to take oath as mayor of the city following the dismissal and perpetual disqualification of Mayor Michael Rama from government service.

In a press conference yesterday, Garcia disclosed that he was informed by the Human Resource Development Office (HRDO) that the decision of the Ombudsman has already been served at the Cebu City Hall. — (FREEMAN)