PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp., the Villar Group’s water utility firm, defended the legality of its contracts, emphasizing compliance with procurement rules as it faced a government probe linking the company to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“PrimeWater has a total of 75 Joint Venture Agreements to date with local Water Districts and select Local Government Units (LGUs), executed from 2013 to 2022,” the company said in a statement Friday.

“All agreements were processed in accordance with the National Economic and Development Authority guidelines and were approved by the respective local Water Districts as the implementing government entities, with the review and clearance of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel,” PrimeWater added.

A government probe found that PrimeWater’s joint venture deals with local water districts increased in 2019, during the time the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) was under the Department of Public Works and Highways, led by then-Secretary Mark Villar.

LWUA has since been transferred to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources under the Marcos administration.

However, PrimeWater reiterated and clarified that the DPWH “is not part of the approving process.”