BY MATÉ ESPINA
THE YEAR that was wreaked havoc in our lives and everybody was looking forward to bid it adieu and celebrate with hope that things will be better with the incoming year.
Sadly, it wasn’t so, after flash floods, brought about by heavy rains on New Year’s Eve led to one death and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents in the northern cities of Talisay, Silay, Victorias and the town of E.B. Magalona.
Over the weekend, the provincial disaster management team reported that almost 16,000 families were affected by the flooding that killed one person and totally destroyed 76 homes while 539 others got damaged.
Victorias City’s Mayor Francis Palanca said the flash floods caught them all by surprise as they even ushered in the New Year with fireworks display. It was early morning when the flash floods came caused by runoff water from rain in the mountains that also met with the high tide.
As the sun rose on the first day of the year, social media pages were filled with calls for help from stranded individuals and footages of people on top of their roofs and being rescued.
Mayor Palanca immediately sought the help of the president to dredge the Malihao River that may require P400 million for rehabilitation. He said that presidential spokesperson, Harry Roque, told him that the request was already endorsed to DPWH for a special allotment so they can immediately start the dredging.
In the southern part of the province, two persons drowned, including an eight-year-old boy while five others beachgoers were rescued.
In Bacolod City, a 14-year-old boy also died on the spot while two other minors were injured after a supposed ‘joy ride’ ended disastrously after the pickup truck they were on board hit the center island along highway and overturned their vehicle.
Police identified the fatality as Francis Batac who joined his 13-year-old and 17-year-old friends for a ride last January 1. The older boy was driving the pickup truck which he took from his employer without permission and worse, was under the influence of alcohol when the accident happened.
Three separate shooting incidents also led to the death of three persons in the cities of Bacolod, San Carlos and the town of Isabela.
As if those tragic incidents weren’t enough, a showdown between 60 employees of the Bacolod City Water District and its new management, PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation was ongoing as of this writing after they were barred from entering the utility company office on the first working day of the year.
The Baciwa employees were terminated effective Dec. 31 through a resolution from the Board declaring them “redundant.”
PrimeWater owned by the family of Sen. Cynthia Villar took over the operations of BACIWA on Nov. 16 which was surreptitiously approved by the Board, allegedly without public hearing and against the position of the union.
The union also questioned the timing of the signing of the Joint Venture Agreement with the new management as it was done and announced while Bacolod was under lockdown because of the pandemic.
The Baciwa Board earlier said that they entered into the agreement with PrimeWater out of necessity because Baciwa does not have the financial capacity to fund an expansion project that will answer Bacolod’s need for more water amid the growing population.
Some employees opted to accept the compensation package while others were absorbed by the new management. However, 60 of them refused to budge and released a statement that said, “We are not leaving, we will not give up,” despite the order prohibiting them from occupying and loitering in Baciwa except to process their clearances.
In a statement, the union said that the retirement option they were offered was “utterly inappropriate, perhaps even illegal but certainly immoral,” and sees it as “little more than a bribe to entice government workers to end their public service.”
The union also stressed that “while we acknowledge that the Board is the policy-making body, it is our conviction that it does not possess the authority to dictate our terms of employment, which are subject to and protected by the Civil Service.”
After a tumultuous weekend, this recent development from the water utility company may just bring more turmoil as we expect heads colliding due to this.
Bacolod’s Mayor Bing Leonardia has not uttered any statement regarding the situation but that is expected as most, if not all, members of the Baciwa Board were his appointees and the aggrieved employees believe that the deal with PrimeWater was allegedly done with his blessings./PN
