MANILA, Philippines – San Jose del Monte’s (SJDM) local government is taking control of the city’s water district effective Tuesday, May 5, after persistent problems with water utility company PrimeWater led to detrimental consequences for its customers in Bulacan province.

According to the March 13 ordinance that authorized the takeover, at least 62 barangays and 25% of total households in the City of San Jose Del Monte experienced “varying degrees of serious water service interruptions, with residents enduring prolonged periods without reliable access to clean and potable water.”

City Administrator Rizaldy Mendoza, during a press conference on Tuesday after the takeover notice was served to the water district, said that these interruptions were so bad that classes had to be suspended, health and sanitation became serious concerns, and social services were affected.

Previous Rappler reports have extensively covered the city’s persistent water woes, such as an April 2025 report that showed how SJDM’s residents have been suffering from — and fighting against — PrimeWater’s bad service for nearly a decade now. 

This “water service crisis” even pushed SJDM’s city government to declare a state of calamity in March 2026. That declaration unlocked emergency powers for the LGU, including authority to assume control of the water district.

Initially, a takeover wasn’t the LGU’s only recourse, Mendoza said. But radio silence from PrimeWater — even from its new owner Crystal Bridges — left the San Jose del Monte LGU with no choice.

“From the rank-and-file of the utility up to the president of Prime[Water] — we talked to them all just to know what solutions we can do so that we can help them… Even all the way back in 2022, we already started pressuring them. It’s 2026 now, still nothing,” he explained in Filipino. “So the government takeover is the only option that we have.”

Even after PrimeWater’s joint venture with the local government was terminated in November 2025, Mendoza claimed that PrimeWater had not communicated with them even once. He added that when Lucio Co’s Crystal Bridges Holding Corporation acquired 100% of the previously Villar-owned PrimeWater, the LGU only learned about the change of owners through news reports.

“We do not have any official communications from Prime[Water] or Crystal Bridges on the change of management,” Mendoza told Rappler. “Thus we are not in any obligation to inform them [Crystal Bridges] of the takeover.”

As far as Mendoza knows, even PrimeWater officials who received the takeover notice were “PrimeWater employees still, as they claimed.”

The local government’s one-year plan

In accordance with City Ordinance No. 2026-03-012, the takeover gives the SJDM city government authority over the facilities and assets of the local water district and PrimeWater that are related to water supply and wastewater systems. This takeover will last one year, in line with the limits of the LGU’s emergency powers.

The ordinance also allows the city government to appoint an interim water utility operator that will be the LGU’s partner in building priority infrastructure that PrimeWater did not undertake.

“Under the JVA (joint venture agreement), there is a P6.8-billion pledge as capital infrastructure… but it turns out that only around P748 million was used for the infrastructure that was built,” Mendoza said in Filipino. “That means the infrastructure projects that should have been built from the first year to the fifth year of the JVA did not happen.”

He added that, according to studies conducted by the LGU and water utility experts, the city needs to prioritize at least nine infrastructure projects to ensure the flow of water to customers.

PrimeWater’s response: ‘Received with objections’

No representatives from PrimeWater attended the May 5 press conference, but they were present at the SJDM Water District building. City officials served the takeover notice to these officers during a closed-door meeting that happened right before the press conference.

Mendoza would go on to describe to the media how officials from the troubled water utility reacted to the takeover notice.

“There was a small talk, professional, and there’s no resistance,” he said. “But there was a note on the receiving copy [that said] ‘received with objections… they [also] said that they’re going to send it to their central office.”

In the meantime, Mendoza said that the LGU will be waiting for further actions from the water utility company. But he emphasized that the city government had done extensive study and consultations with experts on the legality of the takeover, which he said is the reason behind the six-month gap between the JVA termination in November 2025 and the government takeover.

Rappler has reached out to PrimeWater SJDM and PrimeWater’s main office for their statement on the takeover, but there was still no response as of publishing. We will update this story once we receive a response. – Rappler.com