Philam Village (Las Pinas) water project hits boiling point

Lack of transparency, mismanagement and entering into an agreement disadvantageous to  residents.  These were some of the serious allegations hurled recently by a group of  Philam Village Homeowners Association directors against their fellow board members  in connection with the ongoing pipe laying project in the said subdivision.

The     four board members –  Armilyn Austria, Melchor Buera, Efren Del Rosario and Marla Sta. Ana –  all members of the 2012-2013 board,  were reacting to an earlier  village circular (PVHA Circular No. 2013-036) citing them as obstructionists to the  “  Early Connect Scheme” or ECS entered into by the Association and water server Maynilad this year.

In a letter sent to Philam Village residents, the four denied the claim of the other group that they requested to defer indefinitely the ECS saying that they only wanted the present management to allow them to meet with Maynilad officials to  make sure that due diligence was observed before the partnership with Maynilad was finalized.

In their memorandum, they also decried the fact that they were deliberately  kept in the dark during the negotiations  since they were not made privy  to the fine prints and other terms and conditions entered into by their colleagues in the board with Maynilad.

In the same vein, the group also questioned the arrangement entered by the association with Maynilad wherein the latter will supply the village with  water at a cost much higher than if the  repairs were undertaken on the subdivision’s damaged  cistern  by PVHA itself.  According to the group, Maynilad had billed the Association more than P70,000 to date.  They said that all that was needed was P30,000 only  to pull out and replace the damaged pump/motor.

Because of this allegedly flawed arrangement, Maynilad is presently supplying water into the village cistern while residents are being charged the bulk rate as agreed to by the present management.   They warned that if this scheme is continued, it would drain the funds of the Association.

“We have not wanted to answer the false accusation leveled  at us but not to do so would have meant that we refused to agree to the ECS. As there was malice in the circular, we wanted to clear our names,” they added.