MAYOR Eric C. Codilla said only a written instruction from Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo will make him lift his cease and desist order (CDO) on the water operation of Lide Management Corp. (LMC). The mayor laid down his condition in a meeting with Robredo himself and Lide officials in Cebu last Mar. 5.
Mayor Codilla issued the order two years after the implementation of Ordinance No. 14 charging regulatory fees on water extraction which LMC refuses to comply. Robredo asked him to reconsider his position as it will also affect household consumers in LMC’s water concessionaires in Merida, Isabel and Palompon towns.
Mayor Codilla told Robredo to put his instruction in writing to shift the blame to his Department in the event of a disaster. The mayor is concerned that over-extraction of water might result to sinkholes caused by land subsidence and salt water intrusion in the aquifer.
The local government unit (LGU) billed LMC P93 million for its water extraction the past two years for P5 per cu.m.. But LMC is willing to pay only 10¢ per cu.m. or P511,000 annually based on the 13,000-14,000 cu.m. it claims it draws out a day. But the LGU suspects LMC sucks up to 20,000 cu.m. a day.
LMC also failed to secure a business permit from City Hall since 2002 but regularly applies for a permit from the Isabel LGU in which it declared P63 million in gross sales for the latest year. Mayor Codilla pointed out that LMC should pay 70% of its tax to its water source in Ormoc and 30% to its head office in Isabel based on the Local Government Code.
LMC has filed an opposition to Ordinance No. 14 at the Court of Appeals which remains pending. A source at LMC told the express they will pay only how much the court decides them to. For his part, Mayor Codilla argues that until the court hands down a decision, his actions on LMC remain valid.
(West Leyte Weekly Express issue of Mar. 5-11, 2012)
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