PrimeWater brings ‘rust-tasting’ and ‘sandy’ water to Luzon – LWUA probe

Luzon is where PrimeWater cornered most of its contracts during the time of former president Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) has done an initial sweep of the PrimeWater concessionaires in Luzon, where the bulk of its contracts are, and residents in these face-to-face surveys complained of bad service ranging from “rust-tasting” to “sandy” water, according to a compilation obtained by Rappler from its LWUA sources.

These compilations are part of a nationwide investigation ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. into the Villar-owned water firm, which cornered nearly a hundred joint venture agreements with water districts all over the country, most of them during the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte when Senator Mark Villar was public works secretary.

In Santa Cruz, Laguna, residents complained that “water is consistently sandy and has low to no pressure, particularly around morning.”

LWUA personnel saw this for themselves when they did an inspection. They saw that “gritty sand was visibly collected from the flushed water.” Sandy water also comes out of the tap, complained another resident from Santa Cruz.

In Lucena, Quezon, residents complained of “brownish water most of the time” and “water that is often dirty and foul-smelling.”

In Tayabas and Pagbilao, Quezon, residents complained that water comes out only in the morning, some for only two hours, others for only half an hour. These residents described their water situation as having “worsened” and “quality and reliability drastically declined” since PrimeWater took over.

Over at Central Luzon, in Mabalacat, Pampanga, residents said “they are hesitant to drink the water because the water has a rusty-like smell and taste.” In Gapan, Nueva Ecija, residents also complained that “there is a consistent fishy smell coming out of their faucet.”

All the way up to Northern Luzon, PrimeWater’s service continues to be notorious. In metropolis La Union, PrimeWater’s customers have been experiencing “total lack of water service” in some areas. In Urdaneta, Pangasinan, residents have no water service for the better part of the day, resuming only at 10 at night, only to stop again at 5 in the morning.

LWUA Administrator Jose Salonga earlier said that PrimeWater had already submitted a “catch-up plan” to improve the services. Some areas like San Jose del Monte, Bulacan had already pre-terminated the joint venture agreement, although the legalities of that are uncertain since their contracts are valid for 25 years. (READ: COA: Income of San Jose del Monte City Water District fell after PrimeWater deal)

“So, we’re taking a look at [whether they] can they really do this, and we are trying to match it with, is it feasible or mayroon bang mas mabilis na makakagawa nito (is there another party that can fix this faster). So, that’s what we’re looking at right now,” Salonga said during a briefing in Malacañang on June 13.

PrimeWater had their prime under Duterte

Malacañang announced the PrimeWater investigation during the midterm elections, following Rappler’s reporting on the problematic water service in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan and in Cavite.

According to PrimeWater’s website, there are 77 joint venture agreements nationwide. There could have been 90 overall. Some count more than a hundred. The disparity could be attributed to the fact that in some provinces, there is one metropolis contract that covers multiple cities and municipalities.

PrimeWater incorporated in 2006 and it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prime Asset which is owned by Manuel Paolo A. Villar, the brother of Mark and incoming senator Camille Villar, all children of the country’s richest couple Manny and Cynthia Villar, themselves both former senators.

Before 2016 when Duterte came to power, PrimeWater had only seven contracts. After Duterte became president, they were doubling the number of their contracts every year, their biggest year being 2018, according to their financial statements throughout the years. By 2022 when Duterte stepped down, they had cornered 75 agreements, all lasting 25 years each.

They have had contracts in 18 provinces in Luzon, three provinces in the Visayas, and five provinces in Mindanao.

Water districts are under LWUA, which is a Government-owned and controlled corporation. The board members are appointed, or their appointments are finalized by either mayors or governors, which also puts local governments under scrutiny on why they have tolerated this years-long of bad service.

Aside from the Malacañang-ordered LWUA investigation, there are also investigations forthcoming in both houses of Congress. PrimeWater has previously said it was open to having “meaningful dialogue” to resolve complaints and that it will fully cooperate with LWUA. – Rappler.com