Bacolod Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. described the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between the Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA) and PrimeWater Infrastructure Inc. (PrimeWater) “highly onerous, grossly and gravely disadvantageous” to BACIWA itself, the city, and consumers, and thus urged for its immediate rescission and termination., during a hearing of the Philippine Senate Committee on Public Services on September 29.
Gamboa, lead convenor of Amlig Tubig, was invited to be a resource person at a Senate hearing pursuant to Senate Resolution No. 16, which seeks to examine the Commission on Audit’s (COA) findings on irregularities in Water District JVAs with private entities, authored by Senator Raffy Tulfo and Senate Resolution No. 50, which probes whether these JVAs have, in fact, delivered quality, reliable, and accessible water services, authored by Senator Riza Hontiveros.
The councilor detailed in his position paper submitted to the Senate Committee on Public Service, numerous irregularities besetting PrimeWater’s operations since it took over BACIWA’s management in 2020, which primarily included inadequate water supply, unsafe water quality, and questionable business practices.
He explained that the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), has been receiving frequent complaints since PrimeWater took over in 2020 (five years) and just this August 2025, four more additional Resolutions were approved by the SP pertaining to the “insufficiency and non-sustainability of clean water supply” and “the dark, smelly, murky and turbid contaminated water of BACIWA-PrimeWater which adversely affects public health and safety.
Gamboa stressed that PrimeWater has no Business Permit for the years 2022 to 2024 and obtained a Business Permit this September of 2025 only when he authored a Resolution last August 12, requesting Mayor Greg Gasataya to issue a show-cause order as to why its Business Permit be suspended on its failure to provide quality and adequate water supply.
In 2020, AMLIG TUBIG advocacy group and Gamboa filed a civil case seeking nullification of the JVA, which the Court of Appeals (CA) ruled in their favor by remanding the case to the Bacolod Regional Trial Court Branch 45 for the continuation of the proceedings, but the case is currently pending before the Supreme Court for review of the CA decision, filed by PrimeWater.
Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) earlier ruled in favor of the illegally dismissed BACIWA employees, and BACIWA was ordered to reinstate them with back wages. The case, however, was elevated to the Court of Appeals.
Gamboa outlined more irregularities in the JVA, which includes, the failure of PrimeWater to deliver the promised P1.6 billion capital investment within five years, infusing a meager P130 million which is just a little above the annual net income of BACIWA before the JVA.
He likewise cited, among others, the lack of guarantee for new water sources, with PrimeWater relying solely on BACIWA’s existing supply; one-sided reimbursement provisions in case of contract termination; weak penalties for breaches of contract; absence of proper oversight on revenue collections, which go directly to PrimeWater, and the lack of proper water franchise for PrimeWater’s operations.
Gamboa, who is currently the chair of the SP Committee on Human Rights, called for the rescission of the BACIWA-PrimeWater JVA, reinstatement of dismissed employees, cancellation of the 12 percent VAT on water charges, and the return of operations to BACIWA with oversight from the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).
Quoting the Court of Appeals, Gamboa stressed that “the duty of BACIWA as a local water district is the most feasible and favored institutional structure to operate the water supply and distribution system under PD 198.”*
