Senator Raffy Tulfo is pushing for the creation of the Department of Water Resources Management in a bid to address complaints of poor water supply and the lack of oversight in joint venture agreements (JVAs) between the government, local water districts, and private companies.

During the Senate Committee on Public Services hearing on Monday, 29 September, Tulfo said there are problems with overlapping roles and responsibilities among various government agencies, resulting in onerous contracts and the absence of a clear framework.

In reviewing the JVAs, Tulfo said PrimeWater has committed over P100 billion in project costs, most of which are allocated for capital expenditures to improve water services in each water district.

However, data from the Commission on Audit revealed that several water districts failed to benefit from the promised capital expenditure commitments of PrimeWater.

“We saw that over P100 billion were promised in contracts but were not fulfilled at the expense of the Filipino people. Projects that should have poured in ended up trickling,” he said.

“Water is a public service. It should never happen again that contracts like these, which affect every Filipino, are not known to the public."

Tulfo also cited numerous complaints of poor water quality and service interruptions in several areas where PrimeWater operates—insufficient water supply, weak pressure, no notification of upcoming interruptions, and smelly water.

To address these gaps, Tulfo filed a bill creating the Department of Water Resources Management as a centralized agency for planning and policy, and establishing the Water Regulatory Commission, an independent body tasked with overseeing the performance, compliance, and service delivery of all water providers, both public and private.