Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) President and CEO Cosette V. Canilao called for “swift and sustained action to future-proof Iloilo’s water infrastructure” at a forum ‘Water Dialogue 2025’ held in Iloilo City June 19, 2025.
“Where water flows, progress follows. And if there’s one thing the present demands of us, it’s this—we must not wait,” Canilao said.
AIC has applied for an “original proponent status” to supply 86 million liters per day (86MLD) in metro Iloilo through a joint venture with the Iloilo city government. The proposal was endorsed recently by the local development council.
Canilao pointed to AIC’s success in Davao City through its subsidiary Apo Agua as a scalable solution. The Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project (DCBWSP), a partnership with the Davao City Water District (DCWD), delivers 300 million liters of potable water daily to over one million Davaoeños 24/7.
Crucially, the project design separates bulk water production from distribution, where AIC handles the former while DCWD manages the latter. This clear division of responsibilities avoids conflicts of interest and enhances performance transparency in the country’s largest bulk water supply project, Canilao explained.
“This is not just innovation, this is governance. It’s a model that can work—not just in Davao, but in Iloilo, and beyond,” Canilao said, adding: “We must avoid dependency on any single provider. Redundancy builds resilience, and diversity improves quality and ensures highest service to the communities.”
In the water sector, fragmentation and blurred lines of responsibility often result in poor service delivery—and at worst, create conflicts of interest that erode accountability and compromise outcomes.
