Robes couple denies role in 2017 water tank collapse in San Jose del Monte

San Jose del Monte City Representative Florida Robes and her husband, Mayor Arthur Robes, on Tuesday denied their alleged involvement in a water tank collapse incident last year to justify the takeover of the city’s water district.

In a joint statement, the couple said the city government has no control over the San Jose del Monte Water District nor the planned takeover of Prime Water Corporation since the firm is a government-owned and controlled corporation.

“The City Government of San Jose del Monte has no jurisdiction over the decision of San Jose Water District as a Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation to enter into a Joint Venture Agreement with the Prime Water Corporation,” the Robeses said.

“Thus, by reason of such separation from the local government, the LGU including the Office of Congreswoman Rida are not privy to any agreement entered into by the water district,” they added.

On Monday, Councilor Irene del Rosario filed four counts of murder and 43 counts of frustrated murder against the Robes couple and eight others before the Office of the Ombudsman. 

Del Rosario tagged them as the suspects behind the collapse of a water tank in Barangay Muzon on October 6, 2017. She said the incident was the result of the Robeses' conspiracy with other respondents to justify the privatization of SJDMWD. 

She said the case is backed by “circumstantial evidence” that can prove the alleged conspiracy between the respondents in favor of Prime Water, a company supposedly owned by the family of Senator Cynthia Villar.

The Robes couple, however, said this basis is “insufficient for a criminal case to prosper and any criminal complaint based on circumstatial evidence should not be given credence.”

The couple added that plotting the water tank collapse at the expense of the lives of the city’s residents is contrary to their goal of making SJDM a “Rising City.”

“The couples’ clean track record in their public service proves that there’s no instance that they use or are capable of using and, much less, sacrifice lives of innocent people for political and personal interests,” they said. —KG, GMA News