For ten years, San Pedrenses suffering due to the subpar services of PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. have only one prayer: for clean waters to flow again on their faucets.
This month, their prayers are now about to be answered by the current administration of Mayor Art Mercado.
This, after the San Pedro Water District (SPWD) finally moved to terminate its joint venture agreement (JVA) that it entered with the controversial water service provider in 2015.
The move is primarily due to Mercado’s relentless push for PrimeWater to improve its services, one of the key issues that he pledged to solve when he took office in 2022.
Three years later, Mercado is now ready to hand down the “extreme penalty” he has warned against PrimeWater, should it continue to fail (as it did) in its mandate.
Termination
In a recent Facebook post, Mercado finally confirmed the rumors that the SPWD is now seriously considering terminating its JVA with PrimeWater.
Not just “considering” now, it seems: according to Mercado, the SPWD board formally issued a Notice of Termination to the JVA, pursuant to Board Resolution No. 43, Series of 2025, issued on June 13.
“Isa itong makabuluhang hakbang patungo sa mas maayos at mas makatarungang paghatid ng serbisyo ng tubig sa bawat mamamayan ng San Pedro, serbisyong tunay nating nararapat matamasa,” the city mayor said in his Facebook post.
“Sa kabila ng mga legal na komplikasyon, inuna natin ang kapakanan ng mga mamamayan ng Lungsod ng San Pedro, isang malinaw na mandato ng batas, at mariin nating hinihikayat ang agarang pagtugon at pagresolba sa matagal nang suliranin sa serbisyong tubig,” he added.
Long process
Still, severing SPWD’s ties with PrimeWater is a lot easier said than done.
SPWD officials who were interviewed by OpinYon Laguna cautioned that the final cancellation of PrimeWater’s JVA with the water district will entail a long and difficult legal process.
In an interview, Guillermo Pili, general manager of SPWD, clarified that what the board sent was simply a notice that the board intends to sever its ties with PrimeWater.
"Kailangan po na magkaroon ng 30-day period na kung saan kailangan po kaming mag-dialogue sa PrimeWater regarding the 'peaceful termination' [of the JVA]," Pili explained.
“May mga procedure pa po tayong kailangang daanan, at ito pong mga procedure ay napakabigat at dadaan pa sa arbitration, kung saan pag-uusapan ng both parties kung paano magkaroon ng amicable settlement.”
Meeting
SPWD officials first called for a meeting with PrimeWater on June 23 to discuss the letter; however, PrimeWater officials requested to reset it to July 8.
“Pero hindi po dumating ang presidente ng PrimeWater sa nasabing pagpupulong noong July 8; sa halip po, ang dumating ay ang operations head, area head at saka yung branch manager ng PrimeWater San Pedro,” he added.
“They were told by their management na pakinggan lang po kung ano ang sasabihin ng SPWD regarding sa termination ng ating JVA with PrimeWater. So basically, wala pong natapos sa nasabing usapan.”
Pili added that PrimeWater has requested for yet another dialogue, this time on July 25.
As of press time, the SPWD board will convene a meeting on whether to grant this request, he added.
Can they continue?
The burning question that must be on the minds of every consumer of PrimeWater now that the SPWD board has reached the tipping point is: will the termination of the JVA affect the day-to-day service of SPWD to their consumers?
"The spirit of termination dictates that there must be no disruption of public services," Pili asserted. "So we will assure the public na kahit maputol yung kontrata with PrimeWater, the water service will still continue.”
The SPWD general manager added that once the SPWD regains control of the facilities and equipment that were once handled by PrimeWater, the public should expect a “much better” water service.
“May mga contingency plans na po kaming ginagawa sa kung sakaling talagang maputol na ang agreement natin with PrimeWater,” he added.
Closely watching
The SPWD’s decision to terminate its JVA with PrimeWater is expected to be closely watched by other LGUs who are now also seeking to address the endless barrage of complaints about PrimeWater’s service.
In a separate interview with OpinYon Laguna, for instance, Santa Cruz, Laguna Mayor Benjo Agarao has confirmed that he has ordered his officials to look into legal ways to sever the Santa Cruz Water District’s (SCWD) own ties with PrimeWater.
To recall, SCWD, it must be noted, has also issued its own resolution to terminate its 2019 JVA with PrimeWater, primarily also due to the failure of the latter to address complaints about water supply and quality.
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