• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
“Let Baciwa be returned to the people of Bacolod.”
That was the appeal of Bacolod Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr. during his privilege speech before the Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday on the mounting complaints from the consumers on allegedly inefficient services of PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation.
Gamboa pointed out “After the privatization of Baciwa, service inefficiency continued, complaints mounted in quantity and intensity. Yet, ironically, the blame still falls on the local government of Bacolod.”
“If blame and accountability remained unfortunately with us, then it is time that we retake Baciwa to restore efficiency, transparency, and public trust. Kita man gali sa gihapon ang basulon kag buyayawon, kundi kita na guid lng ang mapadalagan sang (if we are going to take the blame and the curses, we might as well run) Baciwa,” he said.
After all, public utilities are essential services, not profit-driven, meant to be government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC) and publicly accountable, he added.
Gamboa also underscored a serious concern: PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation failed to secure a business permit for three consecutive years: 2022, 2023, and 2204. Even its 2025 business permit is highly questionable and irregular, having been obtained only on September 5.
Such repeated violations should have already warranted a cease-and-desist order of its operations, as the law clearly mandates compliance before operation, he said.
Meanwhile, Gamboa stressed that even before the JVA takeover, Baciwa was and has remained viable and creditworthy…. and prior to the JVA, Baciwa held a Triple-A classification, one of the best in the country, with good credit standing, no arrears, and no loan defaults.
In fact, before the 2020 JVA, banks were willing to lend P7 billion to P8 billion, at that time when Baciwa only needed P2.6 billion to improve and rehabilitate its facilities, he said.
At present, we only need about P3.5 billion to implement all necessary system improvements, an amount that Baciwa can easily access through institutional loans, Gamboa said.
He, therefore urged the Sangguniang Panlungsod to carefully study, deliberate upon, and support the proposed resolution he is presenting – “requesting Mayor Greg Gasataya to immediately suspend the business permit of PrimeWater Infrastructure for failure to respond to the pressing problem of dark, smelly, murky and contaminated water.”
Gamboa said the immediate suspension of PrimeWater’s business permit will protect the general welfare of the consuming public of Bacolod City, as it can no longer provide adequate water services, and to prevent PrimeWater from continuing to take and siphon Baciwa’s financial income and resources.*
