Northern Mindanao || X COWD says it will follow court order
COWD says it will follow court order
Thursday, 23 February 2012 00:00
THE new rates of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) would continue to be in effect unless a court orders otherwise, a spokesperson of the facility said yesterday. COWD spokesperson Ladele Sagrado said this a day after councilors took turns in criticizing the water district and threatening to sue its officials. Sagrado said the COWD would continue charging consumers the new rates unless a court issues a writ of preliminary injunction. Last year, city hall went to court and sought a writ of preliminary injunction. Such a writ, if granted, would make the COWD revert to the old rates or from the present minimum monthly water rate of P210 to P168.
"So far, there is no order from the court," Sagrado told The Gold Star Daily. Sagrado assured that the COWD would respect and follow orders coming from a court. She said the COWD was aware that city hall has posted the bond required for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction.
Councilors on Tuesday threatened to ask the court to hold COWD officials in contempt and charge them with "large-scale estafa" effecting a 30-percent increase in water rates despite the pending case. One of the councilors, Adrian Barba, complained that his monthly water bill skyrocketed even when there was, supposedly, no COWD reading for the month of December because of the Typhoon Sendong disaster. Sagrado explained that the problem was due to COWD's computer program that automatically converted the unread December bills as arrears.
She said the COWD already set up a mechanism in place that would address the problem. Sagrado said those with complaints may see COWD's customer care office and show their bills so that adjustments could be made. She said the monthly water bills of those directly affected by Typhoon Sendong were slashed by 50 percent. Even penalties for the month of December were waived, Sagrado said. Sagrado said the COWD foresaw the need for adjustments in the water bills in the aftermath of the Typhoon Sendong disaster.
By JIGGER JERUSALEM Correspondent
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Fire Fox or 
Google Chrome.`