By E.H. Edejer | June 4, 2025

SUBIC, Zambales — Citing poor water service and high water rates, the town council here has urged the termination of a joint venture agreement (JVA) between the government-owned Subic Water District (SWD) and private water utility operator Subic Primewater Infrastructure Corp. and sought to return operations under government control.

In a resolution passed unanimously last week and approved by Mayor Jonathan Khonghun, the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Subic, Zambales said it has received “widespread consumer complaints” that merit ending the seven-year old agreement that gave Primewater operational control of the town’s water supply system.

The private water firm owned by the Villar family signed a 25-year JVA with SWD in January 2018, promising to improve the local water supply system, expand service areas, and ensure an uninterrupted 24-hour water supply.

Under the JVA, the two parties pooled assets and resources, with P147-milion worth of existing facilities contributed by SWD, and P872.6-million worth of capital investments from Primewater programmed over 25 years.

According to the Subic SB, however, Primewater failed to deliver on its contractual obligations to improve services.

“Since 2018, the Sangguniang Bayan has been already receiving various complaints from the public of substandard operations and performance…and the management and administration of (Subic Primewater) has been also promising and assuring this Council and the local government of Subic that it will exert all efforts and means to improve operations,” the council noted.

The SB said complaints ranged from poor water supply characterized by low water pressure and dirty water, to questionable water rates scheme that billed consumers with minimum charges even when customers did not consume the minimum cubic meter of water.

The SB pointed out that under the JVA, Primewater was to provide water services to as many consumers, serve continuous water supply to all connections, ensure that the water quality is within standards set by the Philippine Standards for Drinking Water or the Department of Health, and provide at all times customer services acceptable under standards by the Local Water Utilities Administration.

With the numerous complaints from customers, the Sangguniang Bayan said that there is a “clear breach” by Primewater of the agreements and provisions under the JVA.

These, the SB added, “are absolute indications to warrant the termination of the Joint Venture Agreement” between SWD and Primewater and to “return the water service operations to government jurisdiction, particularly to Subic Water District.”

It might be recalled that several complaints have been aired by residents of communities with joint venture agreements between Primewater and local water utilities. These included unreliable water supply, foul-smelling and turbid water, and exorbitant charges.  

The complaints were reported in Angeles City, Camarines Norte, Cavite, Bulacan, and Laguna, among others.

Primewater’s service coverage is touted to be the widest in the Philippines, with operations in 16 regions and 161 cities and municipalities across the country. 