Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella is questioning why he was presented only one nominee when he is supposed to choose a replacement for Lawrence Villanueva, chairman of the Board of Director of the Bacolod City Water District, whose term expires on December 31.

Puentevella yesterday said he wrote Baciwa a letter asking about the other three nominees. He claimed that director/Board secretary Marichi Ramos disqualified the three others and only recognized Villanueva.

“I think I am the one supposed to choose by law but only one was recognized. The Board should have given me four nominees to choose from,” he said.

Puentevella said he has until December 15 to make his choice and asked that he be given the list of the four nominees to choose from.

He said he will take up the matter with the Local Water Utilities Administration so it will conduct an investigation.

Ramos has informed Puentevella that the term of Villanueva, who represents the civic sector, is set to expire on December 31.

In her letter to Puentevella dated Nov. 14, Ramos said that pursuant to Section 3 of PD 198, she solicited nominations from different civic-oriented organizations in Bacolod City.

Ramos said that after reviewing the supporting documents for each of their nominees, she concluded that there is only one qualified nominee who was validly nominated by two civic organizations as required by PD 198, namely, Lawrence Villanueva who was nominated by Bacolod City Mt. Kanlandog Lions Club and Occidental Negros Lions Club.

Villanueva’s nomination was the only one submitted with the required nomination supported by a notarized resolution of the civic organization’s board of directors/trustees to insure its authenticity, she said.

Ramos said the three other nominees have incomplete requirements due to the absence of a required notarized board resolution to confirm that the nomination was properly approved by the civic organization itself as required by PD 198, not merely endorsed by an officer.

Claudio Salmo, Baciwa Employees Union president, said all the names of the nominees were forwarded to the mayor but only one was qualified. He believes Ramos is not qualified to scrutinize the list of nominees. So the mayor is questioning the list, he said.

Puentevella said he believes that Baciwa has many problems and that Villanueva has to move on and give others a chance to serve the water district.

Villanueva, who is a banker, said it is the secretary who transmits the list to the mayor. “The way I understand it, there were two other nominees who were only endorsed by the president and grand marshal of their organizations. They were not endorsed by the members,” he said.

Their papers are not in order while he supplied the proper documentation, Villanueva said, adding that there should be a notarized board resolution.

He cited, for example, that banks require notarized secretary certificate if a client wants to designate an authorized signatory. The same is true with the government, he said.

Villanueva hinted that the other nominees include a lawyer, a former Baciwa director and a member of a fraternal benefit organization.

If the mayor selects him, he will be a better choice because he has the experience and is apolitical, Villanueva said.

He can work with the mayor and hopes to sit down with him to be able to know what his plans are regarding water supply and distribution, as well as his projects, he said.

Villanueva said they are currently serving only 50 percent of the population so they are exploring surface water. There is a lot of work to be done and he is willing to work with the local government.

They are exploring other sources of water because the population of Bacolod is growing and they are inviting other businesses to come in, he said.

Villanueva and the other incumbent Baciwa directors are all appointees of former mayor and now Bacolod Rep. Evelio Leonardia.*CGS

back to top