LEGAZPI CITY -- A top official including members of the Board of Directors of the Legazpi City Water District (LCWD) are in hot water for their failure to manage the water facility operation and serve the interest of its consumers.

        The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Legazpi has passed on Tuesday a resolution urging Raul Chua, LCWD general manager and five members of the Board of Directors to resign from their posts due to their failure to serve the welfare of thousands of water consumers and their misuse of millions of funds of the water district.

        Councilor Alfredo Garbin, proponent of the resolution, said the resolution was taken up and passed by majority of the City Legislative Council in a committee as a whole meeting at Tuesday’s regular session.

        The alleged irregularities committed by said officials came from the Commission on Audit (COA) report findings that revealed: a) Misclassification of all expenses and income of the annexation of the water supply system project in the town of Rapu-Rapu to their other investments and marketable securities costing P1.2 million; b) A parcel of land acquired by LCWD which was found to have a difference in land area and tampering noted in the title of the lot, remained uncorrected and no legal action was taken for the past nine years; c) Error in recognition of the 70 percent counterpart of the Honda Civic car plan of the General Manager; d) Assertion of regularity in the payment of Extraordinary and Miscellaneous Expenses (EME) doubtful amounting to P785,115.00;e) Over statement of provisions of doubtful account amounting to P2 million; f) Inadequate safeguards of LCWD property, plant and equipment and g) NGAS partially implemented, compromising reliability of some accounting and information.

        According to Garbin the COA found the LCWD’s implementation of the annexation project in the island town of Rapu-rapu and the disbursement of P1.2 million illegal and disallowed them in audit.

        The COA likewise recommended the refund of P1.2 million to be personal liability of the LCWD officials as provided for in the auditing rules which state that “expenditures of government funds or uses of government property in violation of law or regulations shall be a personal liability of the official or employee found to be directly responsible.

        The resolution also lamented the proposed water rate increase by 47 per cent without compliance of existing legal requirements to the detriment of the consumers who are left with no other recourse but to accept “hook-and-sinker” their onerous impositions, water being a basic and most indispensable commodity.

        Garbin said the proposed water rate increase would greatly affect the low-income groups in the rural and sub-urban areas in the city.

        The resolution also declared that the management and members of the board have forged unholy alliances to serve the ends of their positions rather than of the consumers, promote suppression rather than transparency; and, profligacy rather than austerity.

        The collusion will surely bleed the coffers of the Water District, to the great injury of the hapless consumers.