By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
No water from the tap — but gallons of audacity from the Villars.
In San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, families go days without a single drop. The culprit? PrimeWater, the private utility owned by the richest political dynasty in the land — the Villars. This isn’t just bad service; this is chronic neglect, industrial-scale profit-hoarding, and contractual entrapment dressed as a public-private partnership.
Since the 2018 joint venture between PrimeWater and the San Jose del Monte water district, residents have endured rising costs and vanishing water. A former city councilor asked the obvious: Why is no senator calling this out on the Senate floor? The answer may lie in the fact that Sen. Cynthia Villar is in the supposed august body and Camille Villar is lined up to join the party and take her mom’s place. You don’t scrutinize what you hope to inherit, do you?
Let’s be clear — PrimeWater doesn’t just serve San Jose del Monte. It has over 130 joint ventures nationwide. And what connects all these places — from Cavite to Bukidnon — are stories of failing service, soaring bills, and income arrangements that consistently disadvantage the government. The Commission on Audit has flagged these “partnerships” as skewed. Yet the contracts last 25 years. The nation is locked in, while the Villars cash out.
Now, faced with another public uproar, Camille Villar says… absolutely nothing. She hides behind her silence, even as protests escalate, governors investigate, and water stops flowing. No transparency. No accountability. Just the quiet arrogance of dynastic privilege.
Even Vice Gov. Alex Castro of Bulacan had to admit: they couldn’t get a copy of the contract. “Para kaming naka-hostage,” he said. And he’s right. PrimeWater has acted with impunity — beyond the reach of LGUs, beyond the reach of basic decency.
Mayor Arthur Robes — under whose term the deal was signed — is trading seats with his wife, Cong. Rida Robes, who now vows a “full and honest review.” But the public should not wait for electoral theater. This deal was already rotten at inception.
This isn’t just a local crisis. This is a national state capture by faucet. And the Villars, neck-deep in politics and private enterprise, have turned a basic human right into a business model built on monopoly, opacity, and impunity.
We are not just running dry. We are being bled. And as the Villars sip from their towers of privilege, the rest of the nation is left parched, livid — and ready to break the tap. Should Camille really ascend to the Senate amid all these? I, definitely, won’t drink to that.
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