BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — BACIWA employees and consumer rights advocates welcomed a Civil Service Commission resolution granting their motion for execution, saying the order should compel the Bacolod City Water District board and management to pay millions of pesos in backwages owed to workers found to have been illegally separated after the utility entered into a joint venture with PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp.
In a protest held outside the city’s water district office, Amlig Tubig and the BACIWA Employees Union said they received the CSC resolution promulgated April 13, 2026, declaring executory two earlier CSC rulings involving backwages and placement consideration for former BACIWA workers.
“This is not just a legal development,” the groups said. “This is a vindication of the rights of BACIWA employees who have fought for due process, security of tenure and lawful governance.”
The commission directed BACIWA officials to fully implement the rulings immediately upon receipt and explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated over their failure to do so.
Earlier in March, 59 former BACIWA employees demanded that the city’s water district pay their back wages and other benefits amounting to more than PHP123,573,725.36
The case stemmed from BACIWA’s 2020 joint venture agreement with PrimeWater, which transferred operational control, day-to-day operations and management of the water district to the private firm while BACIWA retained strategic control. BACIWA later reduced its workforce from 474 employees and job order personnel to 23 positions, and declared 60 positions redundant effective December 2020.
The CSC upheld the validity of BACIWA’s reorganization but found Rafael Abangan Jr. and 58 other former employees illegally separated because of procedural due process violations, including deficiencies in the placement process. The ruling entitled all affected workers to backwages depending on their placement status under BACIWA’s new staffing pattern.
The labor dispute has unfolded alongside continuing complaints over Bacolod’s water service since PrimeWater took over, including reports of inadequate supply, poor water quality, low pressure and higher rates. Consumer groups said lifeline rates rose from PHP 208 to PHP 245 for up to 10 cubic meters, alongside a 4% basic charge increase under the JVA.
Paghimutad 