Bacolod City residents and consumer groups are calling for the termination of the joint venture agreement (JVA) between the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) and PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp, as poor service and low water quality continues.

In the petition filed on May 5 by the Water Watch Advocates, Bacolodnons called on Ferdinand Marcos Jr to nullify the JVA with PrimeWater, saying, “it has resulted in substandard water quality, particularly turbid water, affecting the health and well-being of consumers.”

“We respectfully pray that the JVA between Baciwa and PrimeWater be revoked. A thorough investigation be conducted into the water quality issues and other concerns and alternative arrangements be explored to ensure access to safe, potable, and affordable water for Bacolod City consumers,” the petition stated.

According to Amlig Tubig, an alliance of concerned water consumers based at the Diocese of Bacolod Social Action Center, “the decline in service has become a pattern in every water district that signed a JVA with PrimeWater, including Baciwa, which has endured deteriorating water service for Bacolod residents for nearly 5 years.”

Amlig Tubig, together with the Baciwa Employees Union-National Federation of Labor Unions, called on other water districts and their local governments that signed JVAs with private corporations to reconsider their agreements. “They must be emboldened to pursue termination and restore public management of water services.”

In November 2020, PrimeWater began managing the operations of Baciwa, with a promise to invest P1.6 billion to improve the city’s water supply for the first 5 years of the 25-year JVA with the local district.

At present, only 47.45 percent of Bacolod is served with a 24-hour water supply, while the average number of hours with water in the city is only 19.11 hours per day.