A series of unfortunate events

San Jose del Monte (SJDM) in Bulacan has been the victim of a series of unfortunate events in the past few years.

Back in 2023, residents of Bulacan voted “no” to converting SJDM into a highly-urbanized city in a plebiscite held in October of that year. The conversion would have made the city independent of the province of Bulacan. According to supporters of the reclassification, it would have given local officials more direct control of programs and provided the city better opportunities.

And just recently, we learned that the much-anticipated Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) project of the San Miguel Corp. (SMC) group, expected to begin operations in the latter part of next year and cater to around 800,000 daily passengers, will only have 13 stations instead of 14.

Originally designed to have 14 stations starting from North Avenue in Quezon City, it will now only have 13 stations, excluding SJDM, stopping only at Tala in Caloocan.

As early as 2024, SJDM local officials proposed the realignment of MRT-7 to the Department of Transportation, but the reasons remain unknown. The proposed realignment has unduly delayed the project and both DOTr and SMC can no longer wait.

But the woes of its residents do not stop there.

CNN Weather just reported that El Niño, a phenomenon that brings about below normal rainfall, drought and heat waves in some regions, is emerging faster than expected in the Pacific Ocean and odds are increasing that it could become historically strong, a rare “super’ El Niño.

But even before the onset of El Niño, SJDM residents have long been experiencing water problems.

The SJDM city government had served a notice of takeover earlier this month on PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp., effectively ending the latter’s management of the city’s water and wastewater assets. It added that residents across 62 barangays have reported chronic water supply shortages, frequent service interruptions, but high water charges.

The STAR also said in a report last February that erratic water supply led the city council to declare a state of calamity due to the effect brought by the lack of water supply in areas served by PrimeWater.

The takeover, made in pursuance of a city ordinance, followed the San Jose Water District’s termination of its joint venture agreement with PrimeWater last year and the non-renewal of the latter’s business permit this year amidst inadequate and inconsistent water supply. The JVA started in 2018 and was supposed to run for 25 years.

According to the local government, PrimeWater pledged to complete water infrastructure and projects in the city totaling P6.8 billion but managed to complete only P758 million worth.

The city government is still looking for an interim water utility operator and has also been approached by some companies offering assistance.

Even before the takeover, the LGU already spends about P370 million annually just to augment supply through water tankers. A total of 22 water lorries operate daily, 24/7, covering 62 affected barangays.

This is not how a modern, rapidly urbanizing city should function.

The consequences are visible. Classes have had to be suspended because schools could not operate without water. Residents queue for hours at rationing points or resort to deep wells and other sources that are not always safe. This is not simply inconvenience. It is disruption to daily life at scale.

More than 100 water districts in the country have joint venture partnership agreements, 74 of these are with PrimeWater.

However, due to mounting complaints about poor water services, the Local Water Utilities Administration conducted an investigation into PrimeWater. According to LWUA administrator Jose Salonga, they do not have the power to rescind these agreements, but the investigation will determine how the water districts can terminate their respective agreements with PrimeWater.

President Marcos last year ordered an investigation into PrimeWater, following numerous consumer complaints.

According to news reports, the President has agreed with recommendations submitted by LWUA but the details of those recommendations have not been revealed.

Meanwhile, late last year, Crystal Bridges Holding Corp., owned by retail tycoon Lucio Co, acquired 100 percent of PrimeWater.

According to SJDM city administrator Rizaldy Mendoza they met representatives of Crystal Bridges only once. During that meeting, the representatives simply introduced themselves but gave no detailed plans on how to improve the situation.

Last February, Senate Committee on Public Services chair Sen. Raffy Tulfo asked the LWUA, the Private-Public Partnership Center, and the Philippine Competition Commission to determine if Crystal Bridges has the financial capacity to operate a water distribution system.

During a committee hearing, Tulfo confronted PrimeWater representatives while emphasizing that existing legal cases against PrimeWater should not be “washed away” by the sale to Crystal Bridges.

The senator also urged PrimeWater to allow smooth mutual terminations of its joint venture agreements with local water districts that wish to end them and to help those districts recover from the company’s performance bond.

At the Senate hearing, PrimeWater president Roberto Fabrique Jr. acknowledged the water problems but argued they were not unique to the company, even as he rejected claims that local water districts were better off before the joint ventures.

The Public-Private Partnership Code lays down a simple standard: any private partner must be legally, financially and technically capable.

The legal compliance is the easiest part. The real test lies in financial capacity – the ability to fund large-scale infrastructure – and technical competence or the experience to run it properly.

The SJFM city government, which has assumed control of water supply operations, is reportedly identifying an interim water utility operator and may select one by next month.

Mendoza said the local government takeover will last a minimum of one year because constructing the various connections PrimeWater failed to complete will take time and require new investments.

For the long term, however, it is still considering a number of options.

What is clear is that SJDM cannot afford another prolonged transition. A city positioned to grow, given its proximity to Metro Manila and major infrastructure developments, now finds itself constrained by the most basic of services.

Water, after all, is not a secondary concern. It is the starting point of everything else.

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