BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – The political pundits appear to have been silenced for now as sitting Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez seems to have found himself in a bind over deepening problems of a water shortage and worsening power outages.
As Benitez finally made a clear declaration that the Villar-owned Primewater Infrastructure Inc. has failed to comply with its obligation to provide round-the-clock uninterrupted water to its concessionaires, a former city dad is pressing Benitez to take drastic actions.
“Terminate it now by compelling directors of BACIWA (Bacolod City Water District) the contract,” former Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr told DNX a day after Benitez became more direct against Primewater and its failed obligations.
Gamboa suggested that Benitez can file cases against directors of BACIWA that has entered into a joint venture agreement with Primewater that will last 25 years.
The administrative and criminal complaints, Gamboa said, can be filed before the Office of the Ombudsman as these directors are officers of a government-owned and controlled corporation with the mayor as the appointing authority.
Benitez had earlier said he is “willing to work” with anybody to resolve the city’s water woes when asked if he plans to appoint new directors.
