Senator Raffy Tulfo, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, has raised concerns over PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation’s Joint Venture Agreements (JVAs) with over 75 water districts serving 16 million Filipinos.
Tulfo cited numerous complaints of poor water quality, low pressure, service interruptions, and unannounced outages. Residents reportedly wake up in the early hours to collect water, yet continue to pay fees despite irregular supply.
While JVAs are intended to help financially weak water districts improve services with private investment, data from the Commission on Audit shows PrimeWater has failed to deliver on its commitments.
In Metro Surigao Water District, only P62 million of the planned P904 million capital expenditure was completed, while Panabo Water District saw just P50 million of P644 million delivered. Tagaytay Water District recorded one of the lowest performances, with only P130 million of a P1.2 billion plan accomplished.
Tulfo also highlighted declining revenues, noting that Tagaytay went from earning P55 million to posting a net loss of P12 million after entering the JVA.
The senator criticized the unfair revenue-sharing schemes and called for full transparency of PrimeWater’s earnings.
“Why would Local Water Districts choose to enter these agreements when some of them were already earning hundreds of millions before? Para bang nakipag JVA kayo sa PrimeWater para magpalugi,” he said.IMT
