THE Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) will not cease and desist from operating its deep wells because of public interest, said its general manager Juliana Carbon.
Carbon said on Thursday, December 28, they sent a letter to National Water Resources Board (NWRB) Executive Director Sevillo David Jr., stating that they do not have the list of the 14 deep wells covered by the cease and desist order (CDO).
Last November 10, the NWRB issued a CDO to Baciwa on the operation of its 14 deep wells without water permits.
The complaint was filed by concerned citizen John Sy against the management of Baciwa in 2016.
The NWRB order stated that Baciwa is appropriating/utilizing 14 deep well sources without the benefit of water permits from the NWRB in violation of Article 13 of the Water Code of the Philippines.
“In the interest of due process, this Board issued a show cause order dated May 29, 2017, directing you to submit a written explanation under oath justifying said infraction,” the order further stated.
Carbon said they received a copy of the order only on December 13.
“We do not have the list of the 14 deep wells covered by the CDO so what are we going to close because we do not know the specific wells that are covered,” she said.
Carbon added that the matter was referred to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) for appropriate action and they submitted a motion for reconsideration to the NWRB before the deadline on Thursday, December 28.
“There is a process that the CDO is executory pending any action on our part, but definitely my stand is we will not cease and desist (the operation of) the wells because of public interest,” she said.
Carbon pointed out that they have pending water permit applications with the NWRB for two years now.
She also apologized for her previous statement to the media, stating that “when she inquired from the NWRB, she learned that only six deep wells are utilized by Baciwa and the eight wells are still for up application for water permits.”
“That statement has to be verified and I apologize for making that statement because of the information that was also given to me by the operation, but that statement should be verified because how can NWRB issue a CDO on wells not existing so I really apologize and want to make a correction,” Carbon said.
She said they will determine first the exact location of the wells that are covered by the CDO.
Baciwa has a total of 52 operational deep wells.
Carbon said she is hopeful that the NWRB executive director will reconsider the order.