Water business has attracted conglomerates in the Philippines in recent years, including the Ayalas, the Manny Pangilinan group, the Villars, Ricky Razon, and retail magnate Lucio Co. The Villars are involved in many business activities. For a time, former Senator Manny Villar was regarded as the "brown billionaire" landing on Forbes' list among the richest due to his property development, retail business, and family involvement in politics. He became interested in the water business and established PrimeWater Inc., the corporate vehicle that entered into joint ventures with several water districts nationwide.
PrimeWater's Joint Ventures and Sale
It was during the time of then Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan when negotiations for the joint venture agreement were finalized. Recently, PrimeWater's joint ventures with several water districts did not meet approval by some, so the Villars decided to sell their interests to Lucio Co, fronted by his Crystal Bridges water firm.
History of Angeles City Water District
To recall, the Angeles City Water District started in the early years as a section of the City Engineer's Office. It morphed into a water district when the Local Water Utilities Administration law was passed in 1987. All local government units' water systems were mandated to be water districts, and a law to protect and shield them from local politics, PD198, was enacted. From eight thousand connections in 1987, it grew to 62,000 since the joint venture with PrimeWater came into effect.
Just like any utility servicing a growing clientele, problems can be expected. Not even two percent of the total number of customers are received by the district's complaint desk, according to ACWD General Manager Guy Lopez. Early on, when there was no joint venture yet, the district employees numbered 212. Today, only twelve regular workers and two casual employees remain at ACWD. Many were hired by PrimeWater for its operations.
PrimeWater's Service Area
PrimeWater is servicing 450 kilometers of ground-laid pipes that start from Barangay Capaya and cut across several areas up to Barangay Sapangbato. It cannot be compared to other small service providers like Calsons, Teresa Waterworks, Taguete, etc.
Retrospective: Balibago Waterworks
In my younger years, I was a hired consultant by my cousin Kong Adiong Santos of Porac, who originally owned Balibago Waterworks, which operates water distribution in some parts of Angeles City. When he passed away, his two sons and daughter Vivian sold it to a group headed by Tito Panlilio, a banker and in his college years a basketball player for Ateneo. Now this water system grew by leaps and bounds and has several branches in operation nationwide.
Impact of Clark Freeport Development
In 1993, Republic Act 7227, otherwise known as the Bases Conversion Law, went into effect, converting the former US military installation of Clark Air Base into a Clark Special Economic Zone. Investors began coming in. Many years later, there are now thousands of locators and counting. In the 4,240 or so hectares of the fenced area of the freeport, manufacturing companies mushroomed, along with hotels, housing subdivisions, leisure estates, banks, schools, casinos, food chains, industrial parks, and golf courses. All of these consume large volumes of water on a 24-hour basis.
A study showed that Clark Freeport today consumes approximately 80,000 cubic meters of water per day. Soon enough, the freeport, including Angeles City and Mabalacat, will face a major problem: water shortage. Of course, everyone knows that water is pumped from the ground. We do not know how they measure the aquifer. If Clark and the adjacent communities with their respective water districts continuously pump water from the ground and retail to thousands of households and commercial establishments, a drying up is to be expected.
