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Residents queue for water at Barangay 101 in Manila on January 11, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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Water Utility

Victoria Tulad

ABS-CBN News

MANILA &mdash; Water districts that want to opt out of their joint venture agreements (JVA) with private water concessionaires may seek the help of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).According to Government Corporate Attorney Horace Cimafranca, a change in ownership of a JVA still needs consent from the water district they are in a partnership with.This applies to water districts that have JVAs with PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp., which rebranded to Hiraya Water Corp. after it was bought by Crystal Bridges Holding Corp. in December 2025.&quot;Effectively it won&rsquo;t be that same person that they agreed to contract with in the first place,&quot; Cimafranca explained during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services on Thursday, September 3.He said the consent to be in the contract would have changed with the change in ownership.He said the OGCC can advise a water district on pursuing a termination of contract, and that it is currently assisting some water districts with that.Asked by Sen. Risa Hontiveros if Hiraya Water Corp. will allow water districts to leave the agreement without a penalty, company president Jose Paulino Santamarina said there is a process for that.&ldquo;We have to take into consideration that the JVA is an agreement that was entered into,&rdquo; Santamarina said. &ldquo;There are pre-termination procedures in place and termination cannot be unilateral.&rdquo;<div> </div><div>COMPLAINTS</div>Sen. Raffy Tulfo, panel chair, raised other concerns regarding Hiraya Water, such as the numerous complaints he had received from its customers.&quot;Nagbago na ang owner ng PrimeWater, pero patuloy pa rin ang reklamo,&quot; Tulfo said.(PrimeWater has new owners, but the complaints still keep coming.)<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/6/23/-ala-una-pa-lang-gising-na-250-000-bulacan-residents-caught-in-escalating-primewater-crisis-1147" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&#39;Ala-una pa lang gising na:&#39; 250,000 Bulacan residents caught in escalating PrimeWater crisis</a></div>He acknowledged that Crystal Bridges did not cause the problems, but said that by buying PrimeWater &quot;you inherit the existing contracts, debts and obligations, pending cases, unfinished commitments and consumers na galit na, uhaw pa (who are angry and thirsty)&quot;.&nbsp;He said residents of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, for instance, had been complaining about the poor service of Hiraya Water.Irene Del Rosario, former city councilor and city administrator of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, told the committee that they want the management of their water supply to go back to their water district.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/7/27/lucio-co-firm-earmarks-p6-7-billion-for-primewater-rehab-1424" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lucio Co firm earmarks P6.7 billion for PrimeWater rehab</a></div>Santamarina said the company has been trying to communicate to consumers that addressing issues with water supply will take time.&quot;Hindi po mabilis kumuha ng source; hindi po mabilis magpalit ng mga 30-year-old, 50-year-old pipes na maraming butas. It takes time,&quot; he said.(Finding a water source takes time. Replacing 30-year-old...50-year-old pipes full of holes cannot be rushed.)He said the company has already started doing the repairs.<div> </div><div>BUSINESS REGISTRATION</div>Tulfo also criticized Hiraya Water for being registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a company engaged in the establishment, operation and management of restaurants and bars.Santamarina said he doesn&#39;t not know why that document was filed because their nature of business filed with the SEC is to establish, maintain, manage and supervise waterworks systems.SEC Securities Counsel II Ria Castillo confirmed Santamarina&rsquo;s statement, but also confirmed that Page Two of the company&rsquo;s General Information Sheet contained the information Tulfo cited.She said that they will look into this.Tulfo further pointed out that Hiraya Water registered the same name as Hiraya Water or Hiraya Technology Solutions, Inc., which is a smart water management company.Stephen Larcia, CEO of the Hiraya Water tech firm, said they have encountered several problems because of this.&quot;Dumagsa po ang mga reklamo sa email po namin, sa landline po namin, sa opisina po namin,&quot; he said.(We have been inundated with complaints through e-mail, our landline, and at the office.)SEC said it will look into the matter as well.

Water districts that want to opt out of their joint venture agreements with private water concessionaires may seek the help of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).

Water districts that want to opt out of their joint venture agreements with private water concessionaires may seek the help of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).

Water districts may opt out of joint ventures with concessionaires — OGCC

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Water districts may opt out of joint ventures with concessionaires — OGCC

Victoria Tulad,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 03, 2026 06:07 PM PHT

Read More:

water concessionaires

joint venture agreements

water districts

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