In the last few years, Rappler had published occasional reports on PrimeWater’s terrible service in areas where it had taken over the operations and management of water supply from the local water districts (LWDs).
Even then, the list of affected localities was already getting longer: from Angeles and San Fernando in Pampanga, and Bulacan in the north, to Leyte and Bacolod City in the central Philippines, and down south in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
Residents in the firm’s service areas complained that their households would go for days without water, yet they were practically held up with unfailing, sometimes costly bills. In annual reports on individual local government units, state auditors questioned the lopsided contracts, and recommended either their termination or the demands for the LWDs’ just share in the incomes.
And so, in 2025, Rappler resolved to approach the PrimeWater performance as an election issue. It was an easiest editorial agenda to carry out — our partner organizations and Move volunteers were ready with horror stories from their own communities.
In the physical town halls and #LiveableCities chats we conducted on the Rappler Communities app, the flood of residents’ grievances was directly disproportional to the amount of water coming out of PrimeWater faucets.
I see the issue picking up momentum:
- In Cavite, leading gubernatorial bet Abeng Remulla promises to help the city governments get an honest-to-goodness audience with PrimeWater. (In other provinces, we’ve received reports that the firm routinely ignored calls for dialogue.)
- As I explained in our Cavite kapihan, governors are unable to intervene beforehand because it’s the mayors who appoint the directors of local water districts, and these entities — government corporations under the national government — are the ones that enter into JVAs with private businesses.
- In Bulacan, reelectionist Vice Governor Alex Castro has commenced a provincial board review of the JVAs, and calls for the Senate to probe the firm.
- Specifically in San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, a coalition of people’s organization launched a campaign to scrap the city’s deal with the water firm and to vote against senatorial bet Camille Villar, whose billionaire family owns PrimeWater.
- At the House of Representatives, Zambales 1st District congressman Jay Khonghun, an assistant majority floor leader of the chamber, has said he would seek an investigation, since his constituents have suffered as well.
- On Wednesday, April 30, Malacañang announced that no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would be ordering an investigation into the utility firm’s service, even though Camille Villar remains a part of his administration’s senatorial slate.
Calabarzon audit can be a template
The vote-rich region of Calabarzon is a case study that can make any probe and review easier for whichever agency the President will assign, and for the congressional chambers and provincial board wanting to finally step in.
As early as 2019, the Commission on Audit (COA) Region IV-A had already done a review of more than half of the JVAs that PrimeWater had with local water districts. Since the JVAs were identical, the auditors said it was safe to assume that all of the firm’s JVAs in Calabarzon were under the same skewed provisions.
Basics: At the time of the audit, 13 of the 62 water districts in Calabarzon had entered into JVAs with private firms. Of those 13, 10 were with PrimeWater; seven more were under negotiations.
Except for three, all the deals were bagged by PW during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, whom the Villars supported during the campaign. The Department of Public Works and Highways, which has supervision over the Local Water Utilities Administration, was under secretary Mark Villar (now senator), appointed by Duterte.
The audit covered the JVAs with water districts of Dasmariñas, Silang, and Trece Martires in Cavite; San Pedro in Laguna; Batangas City; and Quezon province.
To sum up the findings:
- Perfectly-earning local water districts entered into JVAs with the Villars’ PrimeWater even if the latter didn’t have the required capital.
- PW’s unsolicited proposals were approved in two weeks or less, or 10 times faster than the minimum amount of time required. That totally eliminated the opportunity for competitive proposals to be considered — if they knew of the opportunity to begin with.
- PW took out loans to invest in the joint venture agreements (JVAs) — a no-no, per the rules of the National Economic and Development Authority — and made the partner local water districts share in paying those loans.
- The partner local water districts were “subjected to…financial losses for entering into JVAs” the PW.
As to why the local water districts agreed to these, veteran business journalist Val Villanueva might have the answers in this Vantage Point column.
‘Grossly and manifestly disadvantageous’
“The terms and conditions of the joint venture agreements were grossly and manifestly disadvantageous to the government,” said the 24-page report prepared by the supervising auditor for water districts, and reviewed by the OIC of the fraud audit services and the assistant regional director.
They recommended, and COA Calabarzon OIC Director Mario Lipana endorsed to the commission proper, that a nationwide audit be conducted if the terms and conditions of other JVAs were the same.
The findings would be used to determine if criminal, civil, and administrative complaints should be filed against PrimeWater, local water district officials, and other public officials and private individuals involved.
Since then, PrimeWater has still bagged some of the JVAs negotiated in Calabarzon. To date, PW says it “has provided total professional water and sewage management solutions to all of its partner communities and Water Districts in 16 regions, over 124 cities and municipalities from Cagayan Province in the north to Zamboanga Special Economic Zone in the south.” (This is according to its LinkedIn profile since it’s official website is now inaccessible.)
Voting against PrimeWater
Let’s go back to the very bad PrimeWater service being as election issue. There are two ways voters can use the power of the ballot to exact a payback.
One, they can vote for the local candidates who have concrete plans and clear determination to review the deals and hold PrimeWater to account. These candidates, when elected, should not only initiate probes in their city or town councils or provincial boards, they should be prepared to bring the matter to the national government and negotiate on behalf of their constituents.
Two, as in the campaign launched by people’s organizations in Bulacan, they can vote against Camille Villar in the senatorial contes. She is the fourth Villar to run for the Senate, and she will be joining his brother Mark in the chamber if she wins (yes, the Mark under whose DPWH was the LWUA).
Let’s try to estimate the votes. In Calabarzon, the voting population of the known PrimeWater service areas is 1,645,645. Given the 77% to 78% voter turnout in the last two midterm elections, it could mean that up to 1,283,603 voters would vote on May 12 — and they could vote against Camille Villar.
Consider how vote-rich are Bulacan, Pampanga, and Nueva Ecija too — them whose voters experience PrimeWater woes as well. Calabarzon and Central Luzon are the most vote-rich regions.
Repeat that pattern in the regions or provinces where residents have suffered waterlessness too, and you can imagine that there is now a critical mass that can decide which candidates get the last four Senate seats, given that currently they have slim leads and statistical ties between them, .
We’d like to hear from PrimeWater. Our reporters have tried to get hold of its executives, to no avail. Local officials say they have tried to get them to the grievance table, and the seat at the opposite side is still empty. Customers say they have aired their complaints countless times, and the taps remain dry.
That’s a deadly combination going into the polls. – Rappler.com
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