On the morning of August 26, members of the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) Employees Union, Amlig Tubig, and other groups held a picket at the Baciwa office in Bacolod City. They once again criticized the Baciwa-PrimeWater’s continued operations under the joint venture agreement and the imposition of a 12% value-added tax on consumers for water.

The union also renewed its call for the reinstatement of 59 employees dismissed by Baciwa in December 2020 following the privatization and signing of the JVA. Owned by the Villar family, PrimeWater took control of Baciwa on November 16, 2020.

The groups launched the protest one week after the Baciwa Board of Directors removed Baciwa General Manager Mona Dia Jardin through a resolution issued on August 22. Jardin led Baciwa when it entered into the questionable partnership with PrimeWater. She refused to recognize the resolution and stayed in her post.

According to Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Negros, Jardin’s removal was a small but important victory against the Villar monopoly on water services. “Instead of accepting defeat, Jardin desperately clings to a position she had long surrendered to corporate interests,” the group said.

Jardin spearheaded the dismissal of Baciwa’s regular employees and ignored the countless complaints from consumers. They asserted that Jardin did not serve as Baciwa General Manager but acted as PrimeWater’s loyal puppet.

“Jardin’s betrayal is part of a nationwide pattern where public utilities are handed over to private capital through the collusion of state officials and corporate monopolies,” said Bayan-Negros. The group added that this is called bureaucrat capitalism—general managers and politicians act as intermediaries for corporate and private interests.

Bayan-Negros challenged the newly appointed Baciwa general manager to respond to the demands of consumers and employees. The group said the new management must push for the immediate termination of the JVA with PrimeWater, the reinstatement of the 59 dismissed employees, and hold PrimeWater accountable for its rotten service and management in recent years.