LWUA extends interim management in Cagayan de Oro water district
COWD interim general manager Fermin Jarales explains a point during a press conference on Wednesday, february 26, 2025. | PHOTO: Ryan D. Rosauro / Inquirer Mindanao
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) has extended, yet again, the interim management it installed in the cash-strapped Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD).
According to COWD interim general manager Fermin Jarales, they were informed of the LWUA board’s decision on Tuesday.
Jarales told journalists during Wednesday’s “Meet the Press at SM Downtown Premiere” by the Cagayan de Oro Press Club that the extension of their mandate is from March 1 to August 31 this year, or six months.
LWUA took over the management of COWD on May 29, 2024, two weeks after President Marcos told the agency to study such a possibility to address the water crisis in the city.
But the move met stiff resistance, with almost daily protest actions to bar the entry of Jarales and the interim board members into the COWD building. They were only able to hold office around September last year.
Article continues after this advertisementLWUA first extended the interim management’s stay last December, for three months.
Article continues after this advertisement“We defer to LWUA’s wisdom on this matter. We are LWUA’s foot soldiers here, implementing a mandate to provide sustainable solutions to the city’s water crisis,” Jarales said.
Earlier, Jarales had described COWD, the country’s first water district, as “on the edge of a financial abyss” due to poor collection efficiency and revenue loss because of water wastage over a long period.
On Wednesday, Jarales debunked as “misinformation” the claims circulating in mainstream and social media that COWD has increased its water rates to finance its stiff investment requirements.
“It is just sad that a city councilor who seeks reelection is among those peddling such a lie,” Jarales lamented.
