Concessionaires living in the eastern portion of Bacolod City aired complaints against the Bacolod City Water District yesterday following the forced closure of the Buro-Buro Spring site in Talisay and right-of-way by the land owner, and the alleged diversion of water by unknown individuals in the area.

The Buro-Buro spring in Sitio Balogo, Brgy. Concepcion, Talisay is owned by Eduardo Sausi.

Baciwa general manager Vicente Petierre yesterday said 5,000 to 9,000 households will experience low water supply and are being advised to take measures to avoid inconvenience. He said Baciwa is doing its best to solve the problem at the soonest possible time.

Petierre said he was informed Sunday that a portion of the spring intake box had been damaged and they later found out that the gates to the Buro-Buro Spring had been padlocked by its owners. He said they asked for help from the police in order to pass through the only access road to the spring to check the condition of Spring no. 2.

Baciwa assistant manager Juliana Carbon said the spring contributes eight to 10 percent of the water production of Baciwa. She said the Sausi family refused to open the access road and instead referred them to their lawyer Juan Rubrico, who allegedly was the one who advised the owners to padlock the gate and prohibit Baciwa officials from entering the premises, unless Baciwa agrees to pay the value of water drawn from the Buro-Buro Spring.

Carbon said Rubrico warned them not to proceed to the site because about 20 members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army are in the area, but when they went there, there were no RPA's manning the access gate.

Samuel Penado, Baciwa assistant manager for operations, said RPA commander Carapali Lualhati is willing to attend the dialog between Baciwa and the Sausi family to disprove the allegations of Rubrico.

Carbon said an opinion from the Office of the Government Corporate Council states that no one can derive income or tariffs from the springs, which has been used by the city since 1969, because water sources are owned by the state. She said Baciwa was issued Water Rights Permit No. 2365 on Nov. 15, 1977 by the National Water Resources Board over the springs.

Carbon said Eduardo Sausi was a former employee of Baciwa and his family claimed ownership of the land in 2003 after the Supreme Court rendered a final decision in their favor. She said Sausi's son, Abner took his place as spring tender but he filed for leave starting January 2. She said their demand can be negotiated since the matter involves public interest, but Rubrico failed to meet with them yesterday.

Carbon said their lawyer, Jovim Entila, is preparing to file an Injunction with prayer for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction and damages against Eduardo Sausi and children. Entila might also file a criminal complaint against those responsible for the closure of the right of way and for diverting or wasting water.

Petierre said he believes Eduardo Sausi is a reasonable man and may have just been given the wrong advice. He hopes Sausi will give the Baciwa officials a chance to negotiate with him because thousands of households will be affected.*CGS

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