Ombudsman Files Graft Complaints Against Villar Family Over PrimeWater Deals

The Office of the Ombudsman filed criminal and administrative complaints on Friday against members of the Villar family, executives of PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. and 32 local water district officials over joint venture agreements the anti-graft office found were grossly disadvantageous to the districts that signed them.

Ombudsman Files Graft Complaints Against Villar Family Over PrimeWater Deals

Manila, Philippines — The complaints name Senators Mark and Camille Villar, their parents, former senators Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr. and Cynthia Villar, and their brother, businessman Manuel Paolo Villar. The Ombudsman identified Mark A. Villar, who ran the Department of Public Works and Highways from 2016 to 2021, as a beneficial owner of PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. and of Prime Asset Ventures Inc. The respondents face potential violations of Sections 3(e) and 3(g) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

What the Ombudsman Filed

Assistant Ombudsman Jose Dominic "Mico" Clavano IV announced the complaints at a press briefing in Manila. He said they stemmed from complaints about water service rather than from any single regulator's initiative. "Ito 'yung nakukuha nating mga complaints galing sa ating mga kababayan na hindi malinis at may interupsyon sa tubig na nakukuha nila," he said, describing complaints about unclean water and interrupted supply.

Clavano said the list is not final. "This is the initial list and there are still more water districts under investigation, and expectantly, more cases in the pipelines," he said. No finding of guilt has been made against any respondent, and no penalty, suspension or dismissal has been imposed or proposed.

The 75 Contracts Behind the Case

The case began with a report the Ombudsman received from the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, which showed that 75 local water districts signed joint venture agreements with PrimeWater between 2015 and 2022. The agreements covered the financing, development, rehabilitation, expansion, improvement, operation and maintenance of water supply and septage facilities in each district's jurisdiction.

According to Clavano, 19 of the 75 districts have issued notices of pre-termination because of what they described as the company's inability to deliver its obligations. PrimeWater, he said, "has reportedly failed to supply uninterrupted water resources and has instead provided poor drinking water standards."

Commission on Audit records from the Local Government Audit Sector show adverse findings that produced notices of charge. Among the districts that issued them were the Quezon Metropolitan Water District, the Trece Martires City Water District and the San Pedro Water District. PrimeWater's unpaid obligation for its use and consumption of materials and supplies belonging to the three districts stands at P65,650,708.07.

What Residents Actually Got

An initial survey by the Local Water Utilities Administration documented complaints about rusty and foul-smelling water across Luzon, particularly in Quezon, Laguna, Cavite, Pampanga and La Union. Residents in Bacolod have spent years trying to terminate their PrimeWater contract, and in La Union the company won a court protection order.

In San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, the city government declared PrimeWater an "unwelcome enterprise" in a resolution reported on July 10, 2026, citing negligence, operational failure and deficient operation and maintenance of the city's water system. Bulacan Vice Governor Alex Castro told Rappler in April 2025 that PrimeWater's frequent reasoning was that it was not covered by the local government unit, and that local officials were left feeling the company was "untouchable."

The Conflict Question Mark Villar Has Always Denied

The Local Water Utilities Administration, which supervises the country's water districts, has been attached to the Department of Public Works and Highways since 2011. Mark Villar ran that department from 2016 to 2021 during part of the span covered by the contracts, and the Ombudsman says he also served as a member of the LWUA board of trustees during part of the period under investigation.

Press Undersecretary Claire Castro said in July 2025 that PrimeWater's joint venture agreements increased in 2019, when the LWUA was attached to the department then headed by Secretary Mark Villar. LWUA Administrator Jose Moises Salonga acknowledged the arrangement carried a possible conflict for the agency's leadership at the time.

Mark Villar denied any role in the deals. "During my tenure as secretary of public works, I did not participate in any capacity whatsoever in any transactions or potential transactions between PrimeWater and any of its partner districts," he said in a statement in 2025. PrimeWater separately maintained that the Public Works department was not part of the approving process and that its agreements had been cleared by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.

A Company That Quietly Changed Hands

PrimeWater was a wholly owned subsidiary of Prime Asset Ventures, the holding company associated with Manuel Paolo Villar, and part of the business empire of his parents. That ownership changed during the period now under scrutiny: the Villar Group announced in December 2025 that Crystal Bridges Holdings Corp., the holding firm controlled by the family of retail tycoon Lucio Co, would acquire 100 percent of the utility. The acquisition closed in May 2026.

In late July, Crystal Bridges said it had earmarked more than P6.7 billion for the first phase of a rehabilitation and expansion program, with further capital spending expected through 2027. Its flagship holdings include Puregold Price Club Inc. and Cosco Capital Inc. Crystal Bridges has not commented on Friday's complaints.

The sale does not reach the conduct at issue in the complaints, which covers the years the districts were signing with the Villar-controlled company. It does sit alongside a wider slide in the family's fortune: Forbes' 2026 ranking of the Philippines' richest, published on August 5, put ports tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. in the top spot after nearly doubling his wealth, with the Villar family's net worth falling.

The Second Front: A Separate Case, the Same Family

The Ombudsman's action lands on top of a separate securities case involving the same family. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a criminal complaint in January 2026 against Villar Land Holdings Corp., formerly Golden MV Holdings, along with related companies and senior executives, accusing them of market manipulation, insider trading and misleading disclosures that distorted share prices, in violation of the Securities Regulation Code.

That case centers on 2024 financial disclosures. The company reported assets of roughly P1.33 trillion, a figure revised down to P35.7 billion after an external audit, a discrepancy the SEC called materially misleading rather than technical. Related companies named include Infra Holdings Corp. and MGS Construction Inc.

Mark and Camille Villar appeared at the Department of Justice on April 20 and filed counter-affidavits denying wrongdoing. Their parents filed a verified manifestation and motion instead, and the family's counsel, Robel Lomibao, said the company and its officers committed no violation. In July, SEC chair Francis Lim said no powerful family could expect to escape prosecution. "If you deserve to be sued, we will sue you," he said.

The Politics, and the Pressure Before Friday

Clavano rejected the suggestion that the complaints amount to a political strike against allies of Vice President Sara Duterte. He said the anti-graft office had been receiving complaints about PrimeWater since it took office, and that the public's complaints were not something the office invented.

"Even if we are talking about a senator, a former DPWH secretary, private individuals, people who work in the water districts, all of them are liable here," he said. "They still have time to answer these allegations, and we are giving them the opportunity because that is part of due process."

The complaints follow more than a year of parallel scrutiny in Congress. Senator Raffy Tulfo, who chairs the public works committee, has been investigating PrimeWater; at a hearing on September 25, 2025, he read from a Commission on Audit report, and Roberto Fabrique, identified in Rappler's account of that hearing as PrimeWater's president, disputed a figure covering one water district. A House investigation into the utility's service disruptions and rates was sought in April 2025.

Reporting by Rappler also found that 41 of 77 PrimeWater partner districts had failed to pursue their rightful claims, including performance bonds, and that subcontractors had claimed more than P150 million in overdue payments. Assistant Government Corporate Counsel Tricia Velasco-Catera said a breach allows a district to collect the bond, demand compliance or pre-terminate.

What the Family Says

The Villar family said it learned about the complaints only through media reports and had not received copies. "As of this time, we have yet to receive copies of the complaints and therefore cannot meaningfully comment on their specific allegations," Manny Villar said in a statement on Friday.

"We respect the legal process and will respond to the complaints at the appropriate time and in the proper forum," he said. "We are confident that, once given the opportunity to examine the allegations and the evidence supporting them, we will be able to fully and properly defend our rights and address the matters raised against us."

"In the meantime, we ask that the legal process be allowed to take its course and that conclusions not be drawn before the parties have been afforded the opportunity to be heard."

What Happens Next

The complaints now enter preliminary investigation, the stage at which prosecutors decide whether there is enough evidence against a respondent. If they find it, the case proceeds to indictment. The Ombudsman has not named a court, a filing date for any indictment, or a number of remaining complaints beyond saying that more are coming.

Several comments are missing from the record so far. PrimeWater has not issued a statement on the filing. The three water districts named in the complaints have not responded, and neither have their general managers: Enrico Pasumbal of the Quezon Metropolitan Water District, Guillermo Pili of the San Pedro Water District and Juliet Ocampo of the Trece Martires City Water District.

The full list of respondents also includes PrimeWater president Fe Rebancos, whose surname Philstar.com renders as Reblancos, and PrimeWater vice president Romeo Sabater. The 32 water district officials include the three general managers and the members of the joint venture selection committees and boards of directors of their districts.

Why Water Is the Test

Water districts are the quietest kind of public utility. They are contracted, supervised and priced through a chain of agencies most consumers never see, and their failures arrive one tap at a time, as pressure that drops, water that turns rusty and bills that keep climbing.

The complaints put that chain on the record for 75 districts. For households in Quezon, Cavite, Pampanga, La Union, Bulacan and Bacolod that spent years filing complaints about service, Friday's filing moves the argument from a service desk to a prosecutor's docket.

What follows is procedural rather than political. The respondents answer, and prosecutors weigh the evidence. But the arithmetic the anti-graft office read into the record on Friday is now public: 75 agreements, 19 districts trying to walk away, three districts owed P65,650,708.07, and one family name attached to all of it.

By Jessica Ali, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: Office of the Ombudsman, Philstar.com, BusinessWorld Online, Rappler, SunStar Philippines, Manila Bulletin, PhilSTAR Life, GMA News, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine News Agency, Commission on Audit, Securities and Exchange Commission, Forbes.