LMC shuts down water pumping stations

SHOW OF POLITICAL WILL. Mayor Eric C. Codilla serves the cease and desist order (CDO) to Water Supply Operation Section Head Mardenio T. Tapang as Vice Mayor Nepomuceno P. Aparis I reads the enlarged copy of the CDO posted at LMC’s gate.

MAYOR Eric C. Codilla finally ordered Lide Management Corp. (LMC) to shut down its pumping stations in Ormoc last Feb. 28. Accompanied by city and police officials, the mayor personally went to LMC’s main pumping station in Salvacion at 4:30 pm.
 

LMC maintains eight pumping stations in Salvacion and Sto. Niño where it draws water from underground 250 meters deep. Some employees led by Water Supply Operation Section Head Mardenio T. Tapang met Mayor Codilla’s party at the gate. The mayor didn’t enter the compound and just read aloud his cease and desist order (CDO).
 

The order directs LMC “to immediately and completely cease and desist from doing, performing, or continuing” extraction of water “from all sub-surface.” It is also ordered to stop its water pump operations “and all machineries and implements used or devoted, whether partly or wholly, to raise, pump, transfer, transmit, compress, or by any other similar means deliver water extracted from all” sources “within and forming part of the city of Ormoc and its barangays.”
 

Mayor Codilla issued the CDO because of LMC’s refusal to comply with Ordinance No. 149. Aside from charging regulatory fees, section 4 of the ordinance requires extractors to install a device to measure the quantity of water extracted and submit a monthly report of the volume of drawn out.
 

LMC was billed P93 million for the past two years since the ordinance was passed which it refuses to pay, citing a Letter of Instruction (LOI) by the late President Ferdinand E Marcos exempting the company from local taxes and ordinances on the ground that it serves the national economic interest.
 

But Mayor Codilla believes the LOI’s legality has already expired after the two industries served by LMC – Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp., and Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Co. – have been privatized in the early ‘90s during the Ramos administration.
 

Mayor Codilla also said LMC has been engaging in the water business without paying taxes to Ormoc where its source is located. It hasn’t even bothered to secure a business permit from the city government for the past 10 years, it was learned.
 

LMC maintains water concessionaires including two water districts in Merida and Isabel towns, and one barangay in Palompon town. It also sells bottled water under the product name Tubig. Isabel Water District General Manager Renen Geraldo told the express they paid P90,000-100,000 a month to LMC.
 

Isabel Relocation Water Consumers’ Association Inc. Board Chairman Manuel Tabucanon also confirmed to the express that their 700 household consumers pay over P80,000 a month to LMC. During the interview last Mar. 1, Tabucanon said they experienced low water pressure because of the water pumps’ shutdown.
 

This confirms the claim of LMC’s Community Relations Officer Nilo Comaling that they turned off their operation 3:00 pm of Feb. 27 before the CDO was served. Geraldo said they are looking into enforcing water rationing if the dispute between the Ormoc and LMC is not resolved.
 

Also affected are barangays in Ormoc served by LMC namely Salvacion, Sto. Niño, San Juan, Licuma, Libertad, Airport, Lilo-an, Curva and Margen. Despite this, Salvacion Barangay Captain Orland Nellas said they did not sign a petition prepared by LMC opposing the CDO because water can easily be found in springs and deep wells in their community.
 

Besides, many of his constituents are preparing to connect to Ormoc Waterworks and Sewerage Administration (Orwasa) which charges P3.50/m2 compared LMC’s P16 per cu.m. which is five times more expensive. Even if LMC gives free 3,000 cu.m. to every household consumer, the difference in the overall bill is still big compared to Orwasa.

For example, Nellas claims he used to pay P600 a month to LMC for his two houses. Today, he pays only a little over P100 to Orwasa for both houses that have level 3 connection. A barangay kagawad also said LMC has stopped giving free 3,000 cu.m. to new connections.
 

During the serving of the CDO, Mayor Codilla was accompanied by Vice Mayor Nepomuceno P. Aparis I; Councilors Sotero Pepito, Rafael Omega Jr., Jose C. Alfaro Jr. and Demosthenes Tugonon; Legal Officer Augustine Vestil, City Polilce Director SSupt. Elizar Egloso and barangay officials of Salvacion. by Elvie Roman-Roa

(West Leyte Weekly Express issue of Feb. 27-Mar. 4, 2012)