A WATER utility cooperative has been organized to compete with the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) in supplying and distributing water to consumers living in the western part of the city, a city councilor said.
Teodulfo Lao, Jr., the City Council’s chairman of the Committee on Public Utilities, said the water utility cooperative was formed in order to provide alternative solutions to the problem of water supply in District 1, adding that this is "the easiest way to fast-track the supply of water" in the area.
"Kung maghihintay pa kami ng mga annulment, dadaan pa ng Court of Appeals, dadaan nanaman sa Supreme Court, matagal. Kung matagal ang proseso, matagal din mag suffer ang mga tao (If we wait for the annulment of the contract, it will still have to go through the Court of Appeals, and then the Supreme Court, its time-consuming. And with the lengthy process, the people will also suffer for too long)," Lao said.
Formed last Saturday, November 25, Lao said the water coop is composed of 15 big cooperatives with a combined initial capital of some P150 million with each cooperative contributing P10 million.
Lao said the list of 15 cooperatives includes the First Community Cooperative (FICCO) Foundation, Del Monte Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative (DEARBC) , and the Oro Integrated Cooperative (OIC).
"Yung FICCO yung gusto sila lang kasi kaya nila na mag finance but sabi ko dapat maraming coop ang maging myembro para lahat ng mga consumers ay maging part owner ng water utility coop project (The FICCO wanted to do it themselves because they have no problems with financing but I said we need more cooperatives as members so all the consumers will be part of the owner of the water utility coop project)," Lao said.
The water coop is temporarily being headed by Manny de la Peña, the chairperson of OIC.
The city councilor said the water coop plans put up water pipe lines in District 1, adding that their sources will be underground and surface water.
An P85 million water treatment plant will also be put up.
Lao said the financial aspect of the project will not be a problem as the members of the water coop have the financial capability, adding that the overall liquid asset of the cooperatives will come up to P40 billion.
"Ang laki non, walang pera yung COWD na ganun na ma-improve ang water system ng ating city. Kaya sabi ko (Its huge, the COWD does not have that amount of money to use for the improvement of the water system of the city. That's why I said), why not start in the western part kasi yun ang nangangailangan (because that area needed the water supply)," Lao said.
Lao said the coop’s bulk water rate will be initially pegged at P8 per cubic meter.
"Kasi coop yung nag o-operate hindi yung mga malalaking companya na profit lang yung iniisip (That's because the coop is the one operating and not the big companies whose mind is only thinking of the profits). Yung coop (The coop is) more on service-oriented and profit-oriented," Lao said, adding that having a water coop is an advantage as cooperatives is exempted from paying taxes to the government based on Article 60 of the Republic Act 9520 or the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008.
The water coop, Lao said, is expected to start supplying and distributing water to District 1 as early as the first quarter of 2018.
He added that the requirements needed by the water utility coop are the business permit, water permit from the National Water Resources Board and the permit from the Local Water Utilities Administration.
“Matatapos na yung kanilang articles of incorporation ngayong Sabado (They will be able to complete their articles of incorporation this Saturday), they could come up with how they will manage the water system, then the composition of their personnel and management, how they could manage, and the operations. Pagkatapos nyan, magbigay lang sila ng kanilang capital, start na agad pag meron na silang permit. Wala nang mataas pang proseso (After that, they will be just have to give their capital and they can start as soon as they have the permit. There will be no lengthy process),” Lao said.
Meanwhile, Engineer Bienvenido Batar Jr., COWD assistant general manager, said even though there is no prohibition for other parties to supply water in the west area, it will be hard for them to distribute water since they have to put up their own distribution lines and a large investment will be needed for it.
"Kami lugar sa (For us in the) water district although we will still take steps against it to protect our interest in case naay lain nga supplier mosulod (there will be other suppliers). Pero ang Supreme Court nag ingon nga ang dili na exclusive ang mga franchise sa water district (But according to the Supreme Court franchising for water district is not prohibited)," Batar said.
According to Batar, the western area of the city needs 75,000 to 80,000 cubic meters of water per day.
He said from the 100,000 cubic meters per day that the MetroPac Water Investments Corporation offered to the COWD for the city, 60,000 of it will be distributed to the west area while the COWD will provide the remaining 20,000 cubic meters the area needed.
Batar said the contract with the MetroPac has already been signed, adding that they hope to implement it right away.
"Ang nasa contract man gyud (Stated in the contract) is two months from the execution of the bulk water supply agreement. Na execute to sya mga (It was executed in) later part of the October. Gipadala lang so na finalize na sya na authorize. Early next year mag start mag supply ang Metropac (It was delivered to us so its already finalized and authorized. Metropac will start supplying bulk water early next year)," Batar said.
As for the annulment of the contract with the Rio Verde Water Corporation, Batar said there was a mutual agreement between the corporation and the COWD which will be submitted to the Supreme Court on December 4.