Residents of San Pedro City, Laguna have reached boiling point.
And not just because of the record-high temperatures recorded during the last two weeks of May.
This is because PrimeWater San Pedro, the main water supplier for the city, has once again failed miserably in its mandate.
And for this failure of their mandate, some concerned (and angry) sectors are now ready to take up a legal battle to ensure the welfare of San Pedrenses – and their right of access to clean, potable water.
No water
For almost two weeks, PrimeWater consumers were left without water after a 12-inch transmission pipe under the National Highway in Barangay Landayan cracked open, causing a leak.
Even as emergency rations from the city government of San Pedro tided over affected residents during the whole week water services were cut, residents suffered from the agony of having their water services cut – at the hottest month of the year.
And even when PrimeWater announced that repairs to the burst pipe were finally completed, their consumers’ troubles aren’t necessarily over.
In a message to OpinYon Laguna, Guillermo Pili, general manager of the San Pedro Water District (SPWD), reported that PrimeWater had to do repeated “flushing” due to complaints of dirty water coming from their customers’ faucets.
“Ongoing din po ang team natin sa pinapagawa ni Meralco sa Magsaysay booster station natin. Pinapabago po kasi yung service pole natin dahil luma na raw po ang setup doon,” Pili added.
Charged for nothing at all?
But more than the lack of water service, PrimeWater San Pedro consumers finally reached the tipping point upon the receipt of their monthly bills.
The main gripe among them: why are they being forced to pay hundreds of pesos in their bills, even if no water comes out of their faucets at all?
PrimeWater has a ready explanation for the anomaly: the charges cover basic charge and maintenance fees for their meters and facilities.
This, however, did not sit well for consumers who felt they were being asked to pay for service not delivered.
This has prompted some local legislators in San Pedro City to call on PrimeWater San Pedro to suspend the imposition of penalties and implement a temporary moratorium on water service disconnections.
“[Ang hakbang na ito] ay bilang kompensasyon sa matinding perwisyong naidulot ng ilang araw nang water service interruption sa mga buhay at kabuhayan ng kababayan natin sa Upper Villages at iba pang karatig-barangay," Councilor Gius Castasus, who has filed a resolution to this effect, said in a social media post.
Legalized deception
For Ray Junia, a resident of San Pedro City and convenor of the Institute for Consumer Rights and Empowerment (ICORE), the basic fees PrimeWater charges its consumers despite the lack of water is tantamount to legalized “estafa.”
“You are asked to pay for services not delivered. What do you call this? For lack of a more acceptable word, I’d call it daylight robbery,” Junia said in an interview with OpinYon Laguna.
“It’s clear that PrimeWater customers are being forced to pay for air coming from their faucets. Para sa amin sa ICORE, hayagang panloloko na ito,” he added.
Legal charges
The ICORE convenor also bared that several concerned sectors in San Pedro City are now considering filing legal charges against PrimeWater officials.
The charges, he explained, not only cover the water service provider’s failure to provide adequate water supply but also the fees they charge their consumers even in the absence of water supply.
“Sa totoo lang, hindi lang pera ang tinatangay ng PrimeWater dito,” Junia asserted.
“Tinatangay rin ng PrimeWater ang oras ng mga consumer sa paghihintay sa rasyon ng kanilang tubig, gayundin ang nasasayang na economic opportunities para sa San Pedro City dahil sa kapalpakan nila.
“Isipin mo: may mag-iisip pa ba na mag-negosyo o tumira rito kung malalaman nilang inutil ang nagsusuplay ng tubig nila?”
‘Inutile’
Also on ICORE’s crosshairs are officials of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), the main government agency tasked with regulating the activities of water distributors in the Philippines.
Junia asserted that it is clear that LWUA officials have not done any step to even discipline PrimeWater San Pedro for its repetitive failures.
This, he charged, is a clear dereliction of their mandate to check the abuses of water distributors, particularly PrimeWater.
“Way back in 2025, LWUA has pledged that it will investigate the repetitive complaints against PrimeWater, not only in San Pedro City but in their other service areas,” he told OpinYon Laguna.
“Ang tanong ngayon, ano nang nangyari sa imbestigasyon nila? Or, nag-imbestiga ba talaga sila? If they did an investigation into PrimeWater, they should publicize the results,” he added.
(Photo courtesy of the San Pedro City Public Affairs and Information Office)
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonNews #WaterSupply