FOLLOWING PRESIDENT MARCOS’ orders to go after contractors of utilities and flood control projects that were half-done, did not materialize at all, or were overpriced despite the substandard materials used in constructing them, the Local Water Utilities Administration said it would purge underperforming water deals after 6 million customers had been shortchanged.
Let’s see how far this purge would go. Can they run after Prime Water– owned by the Villar family, with Senator Mark Villar now heading the Senate Public Works Committee and sister, Sen. Camille chairs the Senate committee on environment, natural resources and climate change, which oversees the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that grants water rights projects in watersheds and other protected areas.
LWUA Administrator Jose Moises “Joy” Salonga said at a post-State of the Nation Address (SONA) forum, that the government is preparing a coordinated plan to address failed joint venture agreements (JVAs) between local water districts and private firms that have left around six million Filipinos with poor or inconsistent service, and at this point, the Villar-owned Prime Water has the most number of published failed projects coming from aggrieved customers.
“Pag gumalaw kami, matitiyak niyong mararamdaman na nila,” Salonga warned as if the Villars and their contractors are easy targets.
Balikbayan boxes of complaints
He said his agency receives numerous complaints each day about the performance of local water districts and that LWUA had sent two balikbayan boxes filled with documents to Malacañang to illustrate the depth of the problem.
“Hindi lang ako makapagsabi pero detalyado ang strategy. Fina-fine tune na para maayos at mabisa ang galaw ng gobyerno,” he said.
Among the private operators in question is PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp., owned by ultra bilyonaryo Manny Villar, which entered into multiple joint ventures with local utilities, particularly during the tenure of Mark Villar at DPWH.
Salonga criticized these operators for failing to invest in infrastructure despite steady revenues from paying customers.
Gypping water consumers
“Nagbabayad ang mga tao religiously. Ang collection rate ay 99.4% sa probinsya, above 90% ang nagbabayad… Hindi natin alam kung saan napunta ang koleksyon nila,” Salonga said.
Salonga, who previously worked in the energy sector, noted that such high collection rates are rare and should have supported operational improvements.
He added that water districts involved in the troubled joint ventures have submitted catch-up plans.
“Nakatanggap na kami ng catch-up plan. That is an admission na may mga pagkukulang sila,” Salonga said.
SONA had no ‘wow’ moment
In his SONA, the President ordered the DPWH for a complete list of projects (their completion and timelines), the cost, contractors involved and other data to be published so that the people would know where their money went, or if they got lost from corruption.
Tough- talking as the President sounded, Arjan Aguirre, assistant Political Science Professor of Ateneo, found “no strong takes on the pressing issues of the day. There was no ‘wow’ moment when he would surprise or put the crowd in awe.”
“The closest that we can highlight here is the mention of the flood control project, which still did not sound convincing since everything would still depend on him — no mention of institutionalizing changes like mechanisms and safeguards in the process itself,” Aguirre told Business World.
Flood control probe
In ordering an investigation on flood control projects, the President stressed the widespread corruption in infrastructure spending warning that criminal charges would be filed for those found guilty. (He must include those that misappropriated public funds through insertions in the 2025 budget) This after the entire country suffered from massive flooding the whole of last week from successive storms and habagat rains.
He mentioned his recent inspections after the typhoons (Crising, Dante and Emong) and the southwest monsoon, which exposed the collapse and dysfunction of flood mitigation systems across the country.
“I saw firsthand that many flood control projects were poorly built, collapsed, or worse — never even existed. Let’s stop pretending. The public knows there was racketeering in these projects,” he said. (So why not prosecute and jail them?)
Marcos accused unnamed officials and contractors of pocketing public funds through “kickbacks, initiatives, errata, SOPs (standard operating procedures), for the boys censuring them “mahiya naman kayo.’
“You should be more ashamed for burdening our children with debt from money you simply stole,” he sternly said while asking the DPWH to immediately submit a list of all flood control projects launched or completed in the past three years across all regions.
He also called on the regional project monitoring committees to review the list to identify incomplete, substandard or ghost projects. “We will publish this list so the public can review them and shed light on the investigation.”
He added that an audit and performance review would accompany the probe to trace how public funds were used. “In the coming months, everyone found guilty in this investigation — along with their contractor accomplices — will face charges. There must be accountability for the damage and corruption,” he said.
#LWUA
#SONA
#plansonwaterdistrict
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#floodcontrol
#corruption
#erringcontractorsandpoliticians
#mahiyanamankayo
#PresidentMarcos’SONA