MCWD to share use of old bldg with CH

CEBU, Philippines — Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) has agreed of Cebu City government s continued use of its satellite offices at the old MCWD building at a lower cost.

Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia and MCWD chairman Joey Daluz III also agreed to share the use of the building. MCWD and City Hall s coming to terms on the use of the building has finally put to rest the legal dispute between the water district and the city government over the latter s use of the property.

Based on the agreement, Daluz said, the city will occupy the upper floor of the building while the ground floor will be left for MCWD.

The old MCWD building has been occupied by the city government as satellite offices. The city spent P5 million for the renovation of the building which the Commission on Audit (COA) recently flagged.

State auditors questioned the city government s spending for the renovation of the American-era building without a formal lease agreement with the owner MCWD.

According to Daluz, the city government agreed to donate the P5 million worth of renovation to MCWD since it has also owed the water district of unpaid rentals.

 Mag offset nalang mi ba. So mao na among na agree-han before. So mao nay usa gihatag namo nga instructions namo sa mga lawyers to formulate the agreement para mapapirmahan nato sa korte,  said Daluz.

The agreement, however, is yet to be finalized. The city government is supposed to be renting the satellite offices for one year starting from July 2024.

In its annual audit report, COA recommended for the city government to have a dialogue with MCWD and settle the disagreements over the monthly rental rate using the formula stipulated in the Government Procurement Reform Act.

State auditors noted that the repair was completed in 2023 and was immediately occupied by the city government for some of its offices without a formal contract due to disagreement in the rental cost.

Accordingly, Cebu City only offered to pay P200,000 per month as rental but the MCWD wanted P700,000 a month.

Daluz said that they have agreed to set the rental amount to P200,000 since they will only be occupying the second floor.    (CEBU NEWS)