THE Board of Directors of the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) clarified that they
never insisted or handpicked Prime Water to be the Independent Private Proponent to partner with in the proposed Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
The Board through its chairman, Lorendo Dilag made the clarification in response to the letter of Amlig Tubig who leads in opposing the Joint Venture Agreement.
“The process under the 2013 guidelines of the National Economic and Development Authority on Joint Venture dictates that Baciwa follows the first in time rule and with the disqualification of Metro Pacific being the first proponent to submit its unsolicited proposal, Baciwa through its Joint Venture Selection Committee proceeded to evaluate the second proponent which is the Prime Water,” Dilag explained.
He further said that having met the legal, financial and technical requirements, all procedures as stated in the Joint Venture Guidelines were followed until the third stage which is the competitive challenge on which the third in time proponent, Manila Water Co. Inc. and its consortium partner also participated, and the process in still ongoing.
Dilag also said that as to the submitted documents, the board will look into it and validate. “Baciwa shall also solicit the comments of the concerned water districts and Prime Water on the issues and concerns raised therein,” he said.
Dilag also assured that the decision of the Baciwa Board and Management to enter into PPP through Joint Venture is far from being folly.
“In fact, after the completion of the process, all documents will be submitted to NEDA, Department of Finance and Office of the Government Corporate Counsel for review. On the contrary, the PPP thru Joint Venture is a well-studied alternative to deliver better and efficient service to the existing water consuming public and in response to the vigorous and widespread developments and economic activities happening in Bacolod City,” Dilag further said.
Amlig Tubig on the other hand stated that the Senate is set to conduct a legislative inquiry into the joint venture agreement in response to their complaint that the said agreement is disadvantageous to government and to the people being served by Baciwa.
Amlig Tubig together with Baciwa Employees Union-NAFLU have been leading the opposition to the joint venture agreement because they believe that the deal will result in the virtual handover of the public water utility to a private entity according to its convenors.