Mayor Greg Gasataya successfully brokered an emergency agreement between Baciwa-PrimeWater and the Bacolod Bulk Water Inc. (BBWI) Aug. 11, preventing a potential water shortage that threatens to disrupt services that could affect thousands of residents.
The breakthrough came after BBWI warned of shutting down its Sum-ag Water Treatment Plant in Barangay Salvacion, Murcia, due to unpaid bills from May to June 2025.
The BBWI, which supplies 40 percent of Baciwa-PrimeWater’s total capacity through the Granada and Sum-ag treatment plants, is critical to Bacolod’s water distribution network, the city said.
A shutdown would have severely impacted barangays Sum-ag, Cabug, Felisa, Handumanan, Mansilingan, Punta Taytay, Pahanocoy, and Tangub, as these areas are reliant on the Mansilingan Reservoir.
“The effect on the city would have been severe. We already had a water turbidity problem, and if there had been a cutoff, it would have created an even bigger problem,” Gasataya said, referring to the information he received from the BBWI management Friday.
BBWI had initially planned to announce an imminent water shortage before the mayor’s intervention.
Under the agreement, Baciwa-PrimeWater committed to pay its debts, and both parties pledged to implement long-term payment protocols to prevent future disputes.
“Moving forward, there will be steps undertaken to ensure that these things won’t happen again,” Gasataya stressed.
The meeting was attended by Baciwa and PrimeWater executives Mona Dia Jardin, Atty. Sonya Verdeflor, Edgardo Uychiat, Clarissa Araneta, Rich Ann Zayco, Farah Jenny Monteclaro, and engineers John Arlan Canatoy and John Arthur Ramirez; secretary to the mayor Atty. Jose Marty Go and other city officials. ||
