COWD mess ‘none of your business’, Oca tells councilors
City Mayor Oscar Moreno yesterday expressed his disagreement with some City Councilors plan to investigate the termination of Engineer Rachel Beja, the erstwhile general manager of the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD).
Moreno said Beja’s termination as general manager is “an internal affair of the COWD, a quasi-public firm, governed by special laws and, suppletorily, by the Corporation Code”’.
He said there is a recourse available to Engineer Beja and that is to the Civil Service Commission (CSC). And if she seeks further recourse she can go to the courts, which according to the mayor, are empowered to review decisions of constitutional bodies such as the CSC, on specified grounds.
Moreno said while the City Council has oversight functions over the COWD as the water facility serves the public, he said he does not agree with the move of some councilors to investigate the dismissal.
“I don’t agree with the move of two or three Councilors to investigate the dismissal, especially now that the same has already been questioned with the CSC,” he said.
Moreno called the proposed move ‘mysterious’ especially, he said, since there seems to be an effort to connect the dismissal to the contract that COWD entered into with the Metro Pacific Water Investments Corporation, the water facility’s new bulk water supplier.
“There seems to be a suggestion that Engr Beja was dismissed because she was against the then proposed deal with Metro Pacific. This is absolutely preposterous, and the motive is seemingly suspect,” he adds.
Earlier this week, City Councilors Teodulfo Lao Jr. and Eric Salcedo sought for an investigation
of Beja’s termination, saying the COWD board of directors’ reason for firing her were not enough. They said the investigation aims to shed light on the ‘real’ reason for Beja’s termination.
Beja was fired last February 28 for supposedly disrespecting the board when she asked the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) to review some provisions of the contract between the COWD and MetroPac without the knowledge of the board. The COWD board also took offense after Beja initiated a management planning conference in Cebu City and informed the board only after the plane tickets have been purchased. A thanksgiving party without the prior knowledge of the board also placed Beja in the hot seat.
For her part, Beja has petitioned the CSC to review the board’s decision regarding her termination. She has also refused to vacate her office.
Meanwhile, the MetroPac said in a statement that it respects COWD’s independence in matters pertaining to its internal management.
“Metropac Water Investment Corp. (MWIC), a provider of a basic human need - potable water, through its bulk water facility, is a committed partner of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD),” it says.
“MWIC continues to be of service to the Cagay-anons and to work with all stakeholders,” it added.