The Sangguniang Panlungsod has “no jurisdiction” over the case of the 60 terminated employees of the Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA), Councilor Ana Marie Palermo said during the SP regular session today, January 8.
Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr., in a privilege speech during the session, stressed that the employees were “unjustly and illegally dismissed and terminated,” and that “their rights and tenure must be protected against an unjust, inhuman, and illegal order of the Board of Directors of BACIWA.”
The positions of the 60 workers were declared redundant by the Board of Directors following the joint venture agreement (JVA) between BACIWA and PrimeWater owned by the Villar family.
PrimeWater took over the operations of BACIWA on November 16.
The affected employees were separated from the utility firm effective December 31.
Gamboa said: “These members of the BACIWA Board of Directors believed that they are the ‘absolute authority’ by issuing arbitrary, capricious, and illegal resolutions and orders which completely gave PrimeWater total supervision and control over its management, operations, collections, and the trampling of employees’ rights.”
BACIWA was created by virtue of Bacolod City SP Resolution No. 4460 Series of 1973 pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 198, he said.
He stressed that Section 18 of this law stated that “the function of the Board is to establish policy and the Board shall not engage in the derailed management of the district.”
“They shall not engage to divert, exercise, disturb, and interfere in the management of the water district. It is not, therefore, within their jurisdiction and power to attend to those matters which are purely ‘management’ of the water district,” he said.
Palermo, chair of SP labor and management committee, said she agrees that the board could not change the character and status of BACIWA from a public entity to private through the joint venture.
“It is unfortunate that the SP could not look into it as far as the termination of the employees is concerned simply because it is outside of our jurisdiction,” she said.
She said that the terminated employees could go to the Civil Service Commission and maybe the Ombudsman regarding the matter.
She stressed that the city council is not the proper venue for it, although “we can look into the matter deeper as far as the status of BACIWA is concern.”
Gamboa then pushed for the body to make a position in support of the 60 employees.
Palermo replied that they have heard the sentiments of Gamboa through his privileged speech, but “SP is not the proper venue as far as determining whether the termination is legal or not.”
She explained that CSC or any other courts have the jurisdiction if there is grave abuse of discretion or abuse of authority (from BACIWA) and that there is always the Ombudsman as far as government officials are concerned.
Those are the remedies available for the aggrieved parties, the 60 employees, she added.
“I’m sure there are many brilliant and passionate lawyers who will take up their cause,” she said, as she reiterated that “dwelling on the legality of the termination is beyond us.”
Councilor Renecito Novero moved for the body to tackle other urgent matters since “we have already devoted about an hour on this issue.”
“Although we’re all concerned about the dismissed employees, there is a proper authority that will have to look into it,” he said.*