The Office of the Ombudsman filed two counts of graft on Sept. 18 against Sens. Mark and Camille Villar, their parents Manuel and Cynthia Villar, their brother Paolo Villar, and two PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. executives, over joint-venture water deals that left three water districts short a combined ₱65.6 million in unpaid dues between 2015 and 2022. A day later, exactly one member of the family had said anything publicly — and even that amounted to three sentences that addressed none of the specific allegations.
The complaints, filed after a six-month Ombudsman investigation, accuse the respondents of violating Sections 3(e) and 3(g) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act — causing undue injury through manifest partiality, and entering into contracts grossly disadvantageous to the government. The water districts named are in Quezon province's Metro area, Trece Martires City, and San Pedro, Laguna. Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano was blunt about the basis for the case: "These complaints are not imagination," he said, adding that residents of the affected areas have experienced the service failures firsthand.
Only Manny Villar, the family patriarch, issued a statement. "We respect the legal process and will respond to the complaints at the appropriate time and in the proper forum," he said, adding: "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." Notably absent from the statement: any mention of the ₱65.6-million figure, any response to the specific water districts' complaints, and any acknowledgment of the underlying allegation that the joint-venture terms were structured to disadvantage the local water districts rather than serve their customers.
Sens. Camille and Mark Villar — both named respondents, both sitting members of a chamber that oversees utility regulation and local government funding — made no public statement at all in the 24 hours after the complaints were filed. Neither did Cynthia Villar or Paolo Villar. For two elected officials facing a graft complaint that could, if it proceeds to the Sandiganbayan, imperil their Senate seats, the silence is itself a kind of answer.
The timing has not gone unnoticed. The Villar family sold PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. in December 2025 to Crystal Bridges Holding Corp., a company under the Lucio Co Group — meaning the family had already exited the water utility business by the time the Ombudsman's findings became public. The graft case, however, covers conduct from 2015 to 2022, while the Villars still controlled the company and, prosecutors allege, structured its joint ventures with local water districts on terms that shorted those districts millions in dues owed.
What happens next: the case moves to a preliminary investigation phase in which all respondents will be required to file counter-affidavits addressing the specific allegations — a stage where "we respect the legal process" will no longer be sufficient as a public response, even if the family only intends to fully engage with the process on paper.
Context
PrimeWater has faced scrutiny over service quality and its dealings with local water districts for years; a 2022 complaint sought a probe into a "secret" pact between the Cadiz City water district and the Villar Group, part of a broader pattern of allegations that the company's joint-venture model favored the operator over the municipalities it served. Under RA 3019, a conviction on Section 3(e) or 3(g) carries imprisonment of six to fifteen years and perpetual disqualification from public office — a consequence directly relevant to two respondents who currently hold elected Senate seats.
Sources
- Graft raps filed vs. Villars over PrimeWater's failure to deliver water supply, GMA News Online, Sept. 18-19, 2026
- Villar family faces graft complaints over PrimeWater deals, Philstar.com, Sept. 19, 2026
- Villar invokes due process after Ombudsman files PrimeWater complaints, The Manila Times, Sept. 19, 2026
- Probe sought on 'secret' pact between Cadiz water district and Villar Group, Inquirer.net