The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) report exposing the failures of PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp., must lead to the full and permanent termination of more than 70 joint venture agreements (JVAs) between local water districts and the Villar-owned PrimeWater. In a press conference of the Water for the People Network today, KMP slammed anew the Villar family for profiteering off water privatization and degrading public service in hundreds of communities.
KMP said the mounting legal and public backlash against PrimeWater, including the recent recommendation by LWUA for local water districts to consider terminating their JVAs, validates long-standing complaints from water consumers and rural sectors.
“Matagal nang napatunayan ng mamamayan na kapag PrimeWater ang namamahala, tiyak na may problema sa serbisyo ng tubig,” said Ronnie Manalo, Secretary General of KMP. “Karapatan ng lahat ang tubig at hindi negosyo. Pero ginawang negosyo at pinagkakitaan ng mga Villar ang batayang serbisyo habang pinahihirapan ang mamamayan.”
LWUA’s report, submitted to the Office of the President, cited widespread violations of service obligations, lack of transparency, and the failure of PrimeWater to deliver on its promised infrastructure investments. In multiple areas, from Bacolod City to Bulacan, water consumers suffer from chronic shortages, low pressure, murky water, and unjustified billing increases, all of which are direct result of PrimeWater’s monopolistic control and dismal service.
A 2022 COA report also revealed how PrimeWater’s takeover of water districts caused a drastic drop in public revenues. In Bacolod City, the water district’s income plunged from Php623 million in 2020 to just Php48 million in 2022 under PrimeWater management while the Villar-owned company recorded a net income surge from Php196 million in 2017 to Php1.8 billion in 2023.
“This is outright plunder of a basic resource,” Manalo said. “Habang natutuyuan ng gripo ang mga tao, dumadaloy naman ang bilyon-bilyong kita papunta sa bulsa ng mga Villar.”
In April, the City Government of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan took initial steps to cancel its JVA with PrimeWater, calling the firm’s service “unacceptable.” Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando has likewise pushed for province-wide reviews of PrimeWater JVAs amid resident complaints in Calumpit, Malolos, Marilao, and CSJDM.
KMP Chairperson Danilo Ramos said the LWUA findings affirm what farmers and poor consumers have long exposed: “Where PrimeWater goes, misery follows. The Villars have turned water into a billion-peso racket while our people suffer from dirty, unaffordable, and unreliable service. This is plunder in plain sight and not even Senator siblings Mark and Camille Villar can deny this.”
Ramos added, “Bukod sa pahirap na pribatisasyon, dapat nating ilantad ang ang sistematikong pagnanakaw ng iilang pamilya sa batayang karapatan ng mamamayan. PrimeWater must go and the Villars must be held accountable. The KMP leader also emphasized that the water crisis in these areas parallels the widespread land grabbing and real estate expansion linked to the Villar empire.
“The Villars are not just taking our water—they are taking our land, our communities, and turning them into gated enclaves and business hubs,” Manalo added. “They are the face of neoliberal greed that converts public utilities and peasant lands into profit machines.”
KMP is calling for a nationwide cancellation of JVAs with PrimeWater; the re-nationalization of water services, with democratic control by LGUs and communities; a legislation against the privatization of public utilities, including a People’s Water Bill; and a full public audit of PrimeWater’s contracts and profits, and accountability for public officials who enabled them.
“We urge the people to reject not just PrimeWater but the entire Villar dynasty,” Manalo stressed. “Ang laban kontra sa PrimeWater ay paglaban din sa pagpapayaman ng iilan at pagsasamantala sa mamamayan.” #