Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez is urging Bacolod residents to inform the city government of water-related concerns amid the clamor for PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp., the joint venture partner of Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa), to address the supply shortage in many parts of the city.
“Water access remains a top priority. I urge everyone to stay vigilant and report any water concerns in your areas as we push for lasting solutions for Bacolod,” he said in a statement on Wednesday, May 7.
Benitez made the call as PrimeWater announced on the same day the activation of the Matab-ang water treatment plant that will provide 3 million liters per day (MLD) of additional water supply to affected villages.
As this developed, the Baciwa Employees Union (BEU) and Amlig Tubig issued a statement stating that they “join the widespread clamor of various people’s organization and local government units for the immediate termination of the anomalous joint venture agreement (JVA) with PrimeWater.”
In a press conference Wednesday, they expressed their stand through a letter addressed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and signed by BEU president Leny Espina and Amlig Tubig convenor Pepito Pico.
“The people here in Bacolod City have been agonizing for the past five years since the time PrimeWater took over the Baciwa in November 2020. The said corporation miserably failed to supply the local population with potable water,” they said.
Espina leads the 59 Baciwa employees who were refused to be absorbed by PrimeWater when the JVA was executed almost five years ago.
They believe that the terms of their employment were protected under the Civil Service Commission, which later issued a decision that they were illegally terminated.
They filed a motion for execution on Nov. 29, 2024, but the CSC has yet to act on it.*PNA