TERMINATE

Just end it already.

The city government of San Pedro, Laguna under Mayor Art Joseph Francis Mercado should, in all probability, find a better water supplier for the city.

This, as it was becoming clear that PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp., which runs the facilities of the LGU-owned San Pedro Water District (SPWD), has failed miserably in its duty to provide a steady and safe supply of water to the city’s residents.

With seven years’ worth of endless complaints from PrimeWater’s consumers in San Pedro City regarding not only the lack of water supply but also the poor quality of the water being supplied, it’s high time for the city government to reconsider – even possibly terminate – the joint venture agreement SPWD entered with PrimeWater in 2015.

That would be more than sufficient to impress to PrimeWater, which had also faced complaints from other water districts it had taken over in the Philippines, that the San Pedro LGU meant business – and when it says business, that meant that the welfare of the people comes above profit-gaining.

Penalties

It’s telling that the PrimeWater issue was one of the specific points tackled by Mercado in his recent State of the City Address (SOCA) last October 10 (see article on page 4).

In the midst of his speech, as he reported on the over 3,000 complaints received by his administration’s Ugnayan sa San Pedro (USAP) program, he cited the continuing barrage of complaints regarding PrimeWater’s services.

"Hanggang ngayon, after seven years, may problema pa rin sa tubig. Ibig sabihin nito ay hindi pa rin sila tumutupad sa usapan, kahit patuloy ang pagbabayad sa tubig ng ating mga mamamayan," Mercado declared in his speech.

"Hindi ito pupwede sa akin; kung ano ang nasa kasunduan ay kailangang tuparin ito, lalo na kung ang hindi pagtupad ay magpapahirap sa ating mga mamamayan," the mayor added.

That's when he declared that the city government will impose a "penalty" on PrimeWater, as well as direct the company to submit weekly accomplishment reports to ensure that the city's water woes will be resolved.

SPWD’s side

When asked by OpinYon Laguna about the persisting problems of PrimeWater consumers, SPWD general manager Guillermo Pili said the water district is formulating an "action plan" that involves inviting PrimeWater officers to discuss the issues hounding its consumers.

"Alam na po namin ang problema, so ang gusto naming alamin sa PrimeWater is kung paano nila ire-resolve ang mga issue at complaints na in-address kay Mayor [Mercado]," Pili told OpinYon Laguna.

The SPWD official added that PrimeWater’s general manager was “unable” to answer Mercado’s repeated inquiries regarding the complaints after the mayor called for a meeting with the water service provider’s officials prior to his October 10 SOCA.

"Pinatawag nga po namin yung president ng PrimeWater upang sagutin ang mga issue, pero ang vice-president lamang po nila ang dumating," he related.

Pili also clarified that the SPWD’s main role is to monitor PrimeWater’s compliance with the performance of its mandate.

“Tama naman si Mayor doon na maraming napupuyat na mga kababayan natin, so [malinaw na] hindi napo-provide ng PrimeWater, so iyon ang dapat i-address nila,” he added.

Not the first time

But what is clear here is that, to quote Mercado himself, PrimeWater has had apparently failed for seven years to deliver its mandate to provide San Pedronians with an adequate water supply.

In fact, this is not the first time that the local government of San Pedro has called out the water service provider due to persistent complaints about PrimeWater’s service, or the lack thereof.

On October 2019, OpinYon Laguna published a letter sent by former San Pedro City Mayor Lourdes Cataquiz to PrimeWater President Fe Rebangcos about the complaints received by the San Pedro City government regarding the "unsatisfactory services on the delivery of water supply of PrimeWater to our beloved constituents."

In that letter dated August 9, 2019 (which was reportedly taken down from social media a few days after it was published), Cataquiz said the complaints encompassed "poor quality water which consequently is malodorous, stinky and not suitable for human consumption."

It should be recalled that the city government even called for a public hearing among SPWD and PrimeWater officials to discuss the persistent complaints of their consumers.

Same complaints

During that time, PrimeWater consumers interviewed by OpinYon Laguna have complained not only on lack of water supply and the poor quality of the water being supplied but also of the high costs of their water bills.

The main argument of many those interviewed had been, why is this company charging us so much for no water at all?

And yet, three years later, those same complaints about the poor quality of water (and the lack of supply of) still flooded social media spaces in San Pedro City.

"Napupuyat kaming mag residente kakahintay sa lintik na tubig na yan mula 11 p.m. hanggang 4 am. 'Wag lang sana penalty ang ipataw nyo sa PrimeWater; Sana makasuhan din sila para sa breach of contract ng kanilang duties and responsibilities," a resident of San Pedro City posted on OpinYon Laguna's Facebook page.

Desperate remedy?

It’s becoming clear that the issues hounding PrimeWater’s consumers have become a malignant growth of sorts that threatens to derail Mercado’s dream of San Pedro City becoming “Una sa Laguna.”

Water supply, after all, is one of the most important considerations of residents and businesses alike in settling down and doing business in a city.

Terminating the joint venture agreement now, before this problem of water supply becomes all but impossible to solve, may sound radical for the city government – but as the saying goes, desperate maladies require desperate remedies.

And what better way for Mercado, who won the 2022 elections on a platform of “genuine change,” to prove that he meant his campaign promises by ending the misery that San Pedronians had endured for nearly seven years?