O
P P O S I T I O N
The herein Oppositors xxx HOMEOWNERS
ASSOCIATSION INC. (xxx), x x x, x x xx, x x x, respectfully
state:
PREFATORY
STATEMENT
1. A Notice
of Hearing from the National Water
Resources Board (NWRB) was recently received by the office staff of the xxx
Subdivision Homeowners Association, Inc. (xxx) inviting all affected parties:
(a) to appear in a hearing to be conducted on
December 7, 2015, at 9:00 in the morning at the NWRB-WUD Conference Room, 8/F,
NIA Building, EDSA, Quezon City; and
(b) to file on or before the said hearing their
Oppositions, if any, to the pending application of the xxx Subdivision Multi-Purpose Cooperative (xxx) for a Certificate of Public Convenience to
operate and maintain a waterworks system in Xxx Subdivision.
Hence, this Opposition.
OPPOSITORS
2. The names and
other personal circumstances of the herein Oppositors are as follows:
(a)
xxx Subdivision Homeowners Association, Inc. (xxx), the duly
registered and recognized association of the homeowners/residents of xxx Subdivision,
xxx, xxx pursuant to existing laws of the Republic of the Philippines as
implemented by the Housing and Land Use
Regulatory Board (HLURB), with office
address at Xxx, Xxx, represented herein by the undersigned Oppositors as
the duly elected incumbent Directors and
Officers thereof.
(b)
X
x x, of legal age, married, and resident of xxx, who is further
appearing as an Oppositor in his individual capacity as a homeowner/resident of
the Subdivision aside from being a director and officer of xxx;
(c)
xxx,
of
legal age, married, and resident of x x x , who is further appearing as an
Oppositor in his individual capacity as a homeowner/resident of the Subdivision
aside from being a director and officer of xxx;
(The names and personal circumstances of the other
directors and officers of oppositor association are also enumerated here).
REASONS
FOR THE OPPOSITIOIN
3. There is no evidence
in the record showing that the applicant xxx has formally furnished the
undersigned oppositors and all the other affected and interested parties/entities
authenticated copies of its (a) application/petition and its annexes/supporting
documents, (b) proofs of jurisdictional facts, (c) publication, and (d) other
documentary requirements mandated by the NWRB rules and regulations.
4. The affected/interested
parties and entities, other than the herein oppositors, include the following:
(a)
Manila Water Co., Inc. (MWCI);
(b)
Metropolitan Water Sewerage System (MWSS);
(c)
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA);
(d)
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB);
(e)
Office of the Mayor of the Municipality of Xxx, Xxx;
(f)
Office of the Vice Mayor of the Municipality of xxx,
xxx;
(g)
Office of the Governor of the Province of xxx;
and
(h)
The Chairman of Barangay xxx, xxx, xxx.
5. Thus, the
herein oppositors hereby request the NWRB to
order the applicant to furnish them and all the other interested and
affected parties and entities, as named above, with authenticated copies of the document referred to in Par. 3 hereof,
supra, during the initial hearing set
by the Board on December 7, 2015 at 9:00 AM
to give the herein oppositors a fair opportunity to review, rebut, controvert
and traverse the same in a supplemental
pleading.
(For this
purpose, we refer to NWRB Memorandum Circular No. 01, Series of 2006 [a
copy of which was attached to the Notice of Hearing received by XXX Office]).
6. The herein oppositors
knew for the first time the details of the October 15, 2015 application of the
applicant xxx only on November 23, 2015 upon request by herein lead oppositor xxx
President xxx (Exh. “1”) addressed to the NWRB for copies of the following:
(a)
The Routing Slip, dated 15 October 2015, (Exh. “2”);
(b)
The filled up Application Form, dated 15 October
2015 (Exh. “3”), and;
(c)
The Sketch Maps of MWCI served households,
(Exhs. “4” to “6”).
7. The applicant
has no legal authority to apply for a
Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC).
7.1.
The applicant
is not the owner of the xxx water system.
7.2.
The applicant is no longer authorized by xxx homeowners association to operate or manage
the xxx water system.
7.3.
The xxx revoked
in 2014 the authority of the applicant to operate or manage the water
system of XXX pursuant to XXX Board Resolution No. xxx, dated xxx, a copy of which is attached as Annex “7” hereof.
7.4.
The said resolution was ratified by 496 XXX
members/homeowners. (See Annex “9”, infra.)
7.5.
To stress: The water system of the Subdivision is
owned by xxx. (See contract [Exh. “8”] signed by and between Manila
Water Co., Inc. (MWCI) and xxx [not the applicant
xxx]}.
8. The applicant
has committed fraud, misrepresentations, monopolistic acts, harassment, and
intimidation as the unwanted and rejected operator of the xxx water system.
9. Fraud was
committed by the applicant xxx by conspiring with the 2004 directors and
offices of xxx to divert the management of the xxx water system from the xxx Water Committee to a private business
enterprise in the person of applicant xxx.
10.
The said conspirators maliciously forced the adoption
in xxx of xxx Board Resolution xxx transferring
the power to manage the xxx water system from the xxx Water Committee to the applicant
xxx.
11. The xxx XXX directors and officers also
constituted as the incorporators, founders, leaders and officers of applicant xxx
when the latter was established in xxx.
It was a
clear case of fraudulent interlocking directorates and corporate layering.
12.The
conspiring parties (i.e., the xxx xxx directors/officers and the xxx xxx
founding incorporators and officers) accomplished the abovementioned illegal
and fraudulent diversion of the management/operation of the xxx water system from
the xxx Water Committee to the applicant xxx without the conformity of the majority of the homeowners of the
Subdivision.
13.The diversion
was a violation of Section II (8) of the MWCI/xxx contract.
14.It violated the
non-profit, non-proprietary, non-stock status
of xxx as an entity as provided in its Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.
15. The hidden
political purpose of the said illegal diversion was to monopolize all the future elections of the directors and officers
of xxx by using the xxx water system as a ruse, bait, and enticement.
16.The applicant
xxx directors and officers used their cooperative for personal gain in the
forms of per diems, perks and other fringe benefits at the expense of the
homeowners who were forced to pay extremely high costs of water supply per
cubic meter and other association fees, dues and clearances.
17. To repeat: The authority of the applicant to
operate the xxx water system was been revoked in 2014 by the xxx Board of
Directors per Board Resolution No. xxx
(Exh. “7”, supra);
18.The said resolution
was ratified by some 496 xxx members
or the majority of the homeowners.
It was also
the subject of a resolution issued by the Court
of Appeals. (Exh. “9”).
19.Discussed
hereinbelow are additional reasons why the pending application of the xxx for a
Certificate of Public Convenience should be denied.
20.
The feeder line materials and connections (at
the points behind the locations of the five [5] MWCI sub-meters) to the service
lines of the households were all sub-standard.
They were made
of inferior flexible thin PVC pipe installed in 2004. They are now deteriorated.
21.The applicant
is misleading the NWRB by submitting fraudulent numbers of consumers.
The applicant
fraudulently claims in its application before the NWRB that it will serve 400 households in the Subdivision if and
when its application is granted.
Please note,
however, that in the list of households that the applicant had previously submitted
to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) its number of household was only 127.
22.
The abovementioned misrepresentation is intended
to secure lower rates or charges from the MWCI while the applicant charges higher
rates to the consumers/homeowners.
The selfish motive of the applicant is profit or
gain. Not public service. Not public convenience.
Such a motive
contradicts the spirit of the laws on cooperatives, the Public Service Act, and
the existing water-related laws of the country.
Meanwhile, the
applicant continues to violate the non-profit, non-proprietary, and non-stock provisions
in the xxx Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.
The above facts show a clear
picture of fraud and dissipation of the funds and assets of xxx on the part of
the applicant.
23.
The herein oppositors have initiated discussions
with the MWCI for the individualization of the xxx water system connections with
MWCI system.
24.
The
leaders of applicant xxx falsely claim that they are the incumbent directors
and officers of xxx.
They unjustly
undermine the legitimate leadership status of the herein oppositors.
They intentionally
create political disunity and sociological confusion among the homeowners.
Hence, the herein oppositors were constrained to file
recently with the HLLURB a petition praying that it supervise the next regular
election of xxx which is supposed to be held this month (December 2015) per its
By-Laws.
25.
The said petition is docketed as HLURB NCRHOA - xxx.
The
parties have submitted their position papers. It is now ripe for resolution.
The herein
oppositors (and the homeowners of the Subdivision) are now waiting for the final
resolution by the HLURB of the said petition for the common good of the
homeowners.
26.
As soon
as the next regular election of xxx is held under the supervision of the HLURB,
it will restore unity in the Subdivision.
The directors
and officers of xxx that will be elected therein could work in peace in finalizing
with the MWCI the full implementation of the water connections individualization scheme.
The said plan
has been the subject of negotiations between the MWCI and the xxx (represented
by the herein oppositors) since 2009.
Unfortunately,
the brains behind the applicant xxx and their co-interlocking
directors/officers in xxx have tried to sabotage the plan to the grave
detriment of the homeowners.
27.
The
pending application of xxx for a Certificate of Public Convenience is part of
its continuing attempt to fraudulently control
the xxx water system (which it does not own) in order to rake in huge
profits therefrom to the grave detriment of the homeowners.
The pending
application is also a part of the continuing attempt of the applicant xxx to monopolize political power in the
Subdivision for financial gains.
28.
Further,
it must be noted that nothing in the record shows (a) that the applicant xxx is
a cooperative in good standing in the
records of the CDA and (b) that it has religiously complied with the laws and
the implementing rules and regulations governing cooperatives in the country,
such as:
·
Regular submission of its internally and
externally audited annual financial reports to the CDA;
·
Regular trainings and continuing education of
its directors and officers by the CDA;
·
Regular submission of its updated/current economic
and financial studies to the CDA to allow the latter to monitor the economic
and organizational viability of the applicant as a cooperative;
·
And others.
29.
Furthermore, nothing in the records shows that
it has registered its existence, its
economic operations, and its water-related incomes with the proper
regulatory agencies, such as:
·
Office of the Mayor of xxx, xxx (Business Permit
and Licensing Office);
(A cooperative, despite its tax-exempt status is
still required by law to register with the Municipality for purposes of
business license/permit monitoring, fire clearance, health clearance, building
inspection clearance, and the like).
·
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR);
(Tax-exempt cooperatives and other entities are
still required by the rules and regulations of the BIR to annually register or
report their income transactions and to register as VAT and Withholding Tax Agents
for tax monitoring purposes).
·
Social Security System (SSS);
(Non-profit and tax-exempt entities are still
required by the SSS law and regulations to register its workers with the SSS
for the protection of the said workers).
·
Philippine Health Corp. (Philhealth);
(Non-profit and tax-exempt entities are still
required by the Philhealth law and regulations to register its workers with the
Philhealth for the protection of the said workers).
·
Pag-Ibig Fund;
(Non-profit and tax-exempt entities are still
required by the Pag-Ibig Fund law and regulations to register its workers with
the Pag-Ibig Fund for the protection of the said workers).
·
Proper regional and national Federation of
Cooperatives;
(The laws on cooperatives and the rules and
regulations of the CDA require all cooperatives to participate in and be a part
of a regional and a national federation of cooperatives).
·
And others.
30.
Finally, nothing in the record shows that the
applicant has (a) the financial capacity, (b) the moral integrity, (c) the organizational,
technical and engineering competence and experience, (d) the mass support of
the homeowners, (e) the model corporate social responsibility, and (f) the
excellent track record as a water service provider to justify its application
for a Certificate of Public Convenience.
WHEREFORE, premises considered it is most respectfully
prayed that the application of the xxx Subdivision Multi-Purpose Cooperative (xxx)
for a Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) be DENIED for lack of merit and for
being tainted with intentional fraud and misrepresentations.
FURTHER, the herein oppositors respectfully
pray for such and other reliefs as may be deemed just and equitable in the
premises.
xxx for Quezon City,
December 4, 2015.
(NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF THE OPPOSITORS)
VERIFICATION
We, X X X X. whose
residential addresses and other personal circumstances are stated in Par. 2, supra, of the foregoing Opposition, after
having sworn in accordance with law hereby depose and say: That we are the Oppositors
in the foregoing Opposition; that we caused the preparation thereof; that we read
the contents thereof; and that the same are true and correct based on our
direct personal knowledge and based on authentic records.
(NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF THE OPPOSITORS; AND
NOTARIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT)
Cc:
XXX Subd. Multi-Purpose
Cooperative
Applicant
c/o XXX Chairman XXX
(Address)
Administrator
Metropolitan Waterworks
& Sewerage System
MWSS Bldg.
Katipunan Road, Old Balara, Quezon City
Legal Department
Manila Water Co., Inc.
(MWCI)
MWSS Compound, Balara, Quezon City
Regional Director (Region IV-A)
Cooperative Development Authority
CDA Regional Office, Calamba City, Laguna
Regional Director - Expanded NCR Field Office
HOUSING AND LAND USE
REGULATORY BOARD
HLURB Bldg., Kalayaan Ave. corner Mayaman St.
Diliman, Quezon City
Chairman
Barangay xxx
Barangay Hall
xxx, xxx
Vice Mayor/Presiding
Officer
SANGGUNIANG BAYAN
Municipal Hall
xxx, xxx
Municipal Mayor
Office of the Mayor
Municipality of xxx
xxx, xxx
Provincial Governor
Office of the Governor
Province of xxx
Provincial Capitol
xxx City
EXPLANATION
Copies of
this Opposition is served on the Applicant and the other interested parties named
hereinabove via registered mail due to the lack of field staff of undersigned lead oppositor at this time and due to the
urgency of filing the same.
X
x x
Lead
Oppositor; and
President,
xxx
