QC court to rule today on 2 MWSS executives

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court decides today on the fate of two deputy administrators of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System-Regulatory Office (MWSS).

Quezon City regional trial court Branch 78 Judge Percival Lopez earlier issued an order maintaining the status quo at the regulatory office until he makes a ruling today on a petition filed by lawyer Elena Alojipan, deputy administrator for financial regulation, asking the court to stop the nine-member MWSS regulatory office from booting her out of office.

MWSS administrator Jose Mabanta had served Alojipan, and another lawyer, Virgilio Ocaya, deputy administrator for legal and administrative affairs, a termination letter to take effect on Nov. 2, a date the President declared a public holiday. The letter said the two lawyers had lost the "trust and confidence" of the MWSS Board of Trustees.

At a hearing on a petition filed by Alojipan last week, Lopez required the two parties to submit their respective position papers on Oct. 31. In the meantime, he suspended the effectivity of the termination letter until he decides today on the question of whether his court has jurisdiction over the case in the first place.

Ocaya was also expected to file a similar petition.

The case presents a novel question of law. Alojipan has been contesting the right of the MWSS Board of Trustees to remove her and Ocaya from office, saying that under the 1997 concessionaire’s agreement which created the regulatory office, any question on their competence as administrators may only be brought to an international arbitration panel.

Alojipan also argued that the agreement provides a fixed five-year term of office for the deputy administrators, which ends in July next year.

Last Oct. 1, the board asked for the courtesy resignation of all the regulators. The other regulators, Acting Chief Regulator, Angel Efren Agustin, deputy administrator for consumer regulation, and Eduardo Santos, deputy administrator for technical regulation, complied.

But Alojipan said this was unthinkable, considering that the Regulatory Office is supposed to be an independent body. In her petition, she said she decided to ask for the court’s intervention because there was no other plain and speedy remedy available to her.

Civil society groups like the party-list organizations Akbayan and Sanlakas and the Freedom from Debt Coalition have rallied behind the two lawyers, who, they say, have been fighting a lonely fight for transparency at the MWSS.

The two lawyers have been opposing the water rates hike because they violate the original 1997 concessionaire agreement. The Board of Trustees and the Regulatory Office had been at odds over the issue, with the latter insisting on the terms and conditions of the original agreement.

Maynilad, which services the western area, claims it has incurred some P2.7 billion in foreign exchange losses from loans inherited from the MWSS. The Board of Trustees, despite the two lawyers’ position, granted the water firm’s petition to recover 95 percent of its forex losses in 16 months. According to its proposal, the remaining five percent would be collected within the next 22 years.

The MWSS Board of Trustees eventually granted Maynilad’s petition without validation from the Regulatory Office, the two lawyers said.

The FDC, Akbayan and Sanlakas denounced the proposed amendment, saying it violates the terms of the 1997 agreement which stipulates that recovery of losses should be spread over the remaining life of the contract, or over 22 years.

FDC President Maitet Pascual-Diokno said the government is virtually bailing out the Lopez business empire and giving it special treatment. "We find this totally unacceptable because it accords Maynilad special treatment and absolves the water company of its inefficiency and poor management."