A CONSUMER-centered think tank called on the government to draw out a national plan to address a nationwide crisis on water, following renewed attention towards PrimeWater’s poor delivery of water services in Bulacan.
“The chants of ‘tubig, tubig’ from Bulacan residents are only the tip of the water crisis iceberg,” said Atty. Nat Oducado, former Party-list Representative and CONSUMA PH founder and spokesperson. “We must not forget that the San Jose del Monte LGU was only forced to take over some of PrimeWater’s serviced areas because the operator failed to deliver on its contractual obligations.”
According to Oducado, the growing number of local water districts seeking to end or reconsider their joint ventures with PrimeWater should prompt government to address the deeper regulatory weaknesses that allowed poor performance to persist.
“The question is no longer simply whether PrimeWater should be penalized for poor service,” said “The more important question is why our regulatory system allowed these problems to persist across multiple water districts in the first place.”
CONSUMA PH cited the Senate survey which showed that of 70 water districts operating under PrimeWater, 61 reported dissatisfaction with the company’s service performance, while 52 had already begun or were preparing to begin pre-termination or termination proceedings.
“These are not isolated complaints from Bulacan,” stressed Oducado. “In Bacolod, consumer groups have called for the revocation of the BACIWA-PrimeWater joint venture amid complaints involving water quality and service, while local officials have pressed for termination of the agreement.”
In May 2026, the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod urged BACIWA’s board to terminate the JVA, citing continued intermittent or absent water service. Meanwhile, in Leyte, the metropolitan water district moved toward ending its PrimeWater agreement amid complaints about inadequate water supply and poor service quality.
“When water districts in different parts of the country are independently complaining about inadequate supply, poor service and unfulfilled commitments, we have to ask whether the problem is bigger than PrimeWater,” Oducado said. “We have to examine the system that governs these contracts.”
Uniform penalties and performance standards needed
CONSUMA PH proposes that the Government establish a National Water Service Performance and Accountability Plan applicable to all water utilities and private operators.
“The plan should establish uniform national minimum service standards for water pressure, hours of supply, service continuity, water quality, new connections, leakage, non-revenue water and complaint resolution,” said Oducado. “Consumers need a system where failure to deliver essential water services has immediate and measurable consequences.”
According to Oducado, the Plan should impose automatic and graduated penalties on contractors like PrimeWater for failure to meet contractual and performance standards, including a consumer compensation system that refunds or gives service credits when guaranteed service levels are not met and a “use it or lose it” mechanism under which persistent material non-performance can result in suspension or termination of the contractor’s authority.
“The government should also require full public disclosure of JVAs and their amendments, investment commitments, performance reports, audits, penalties and termination proceedings,” Oducado added. “Utility performance data should be independently verified rather than relying principally on operators’ own reports. Consumers should receive automatic compensation or service credits when guaranteed service levels are not met.”
Philippines lacks coherent, unified water policy – consumer think tank
CONSUMA PH identified fragmented regulation, overlapping mandates and weak coordination as structural policy problems in the Philippine water sector, calling for strengthened and rationalized water-sector regulation.
“PrimeWater should be held accountable wherever it has failed its obligations. But if we stop there, we will miss the larger lesson,” Oducado said. “We need rules that protect consumers from the next poorly performing operator as well.”
According to Oducado, unreliable water supply is an economic and investment issue, creating additional costs and operational risks for factories, commercial establishments, housing developments, hospitals, schools and other businesses.
“Just as high electricity prices can discourage investment, unreliable water service can also make an area less attractive to investors,” Oducado said. “Businesses need to know that basic utilities will be available, reliable and predictable. Water security is therefore an investment and competitiveness issue.”
“The PrimeWater controversy has exposed a weakness in our water governance. Government should use this moment not simply to identify who is at fault, but to fix the system,” Oducado said. “A national water policy must therefore treat reliable water supply as essential economic infrastructure, alongside electricity, transport and telecommunications.”
metrosundaily
