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| Local leaders, proponent clash on Bukidnon Dam Project |
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| Wednesday, 11 November 2009 04:49 |
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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Civil society leaders in Northern Mindanao are asking the proponent of a dam project in Bukidnon to respect the culture and tradition of indigenous communities in affected areas and to consider the project’s adverse impact on the ecosystem. The Pulangi V project, pushed by First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative (FIBECO), will add at least 300 megawatts to the hydropower-dependent Mindanao grid once onstream by the middle of the next decade. The project cost is yet to be determined since the dam’s design could still be revised, the company said. The dam area, as shown to community leaders during consultations, would cover up to 80,000 hectares of land that would submerge portions of six towns in Bukidnon and one town in North Cotabato, including ancestral domain claims of local tribe Pulangi-Manobo. Raul L. Alkuino, a member of FIBECO’s board, previously noted that the dam would only result in the widening of the Pulangi River and that areas susceptible to flooding will not be populated. However, Datu Bong Wilmar P. Ampuan, chairman of the Nasavakan Tarigunay’t Bukidnon du’t Kalindaan Federation, Inc., has claimed that the project covers a sizeable portion of the Pulangi-Manobos’ ancestral lands. "It will not only deprive us of our livelihoods and our homes but it will also desecrate our sacred sites," Datu Ampuan said. "Without these sacred sites, we, lumads [indigenous peoples], are nothing." Dr. Erlinda M. Burton, an anthropologist and curator of this city’s Museo de Oro, agrees, noting the proposed dam will desecrate sacred tribal sites and thus, could result in cultural dejection and loss of identity of the natives. "The tradition of the indigenous peoples is in their epics, their legends. If they say it is sacred, then it is sacred," she said. For environmentalist group Legal Rights Center for Natural Resources-Friends of the Earth, the project is threatening the ecosystem. "They would put all those productive lands under water and displace around 6,000 households," said Carl Cesar C. Rebuta, team leader of the center in Northern Mindanao. Stable power supply FIBECO officials have noted the dam is necessary to ensure stability in Mindanao’s power supply. In an interview, Renato S. Cortezano, officer-in-charge of FIBECO, said the island is expecting a 600-megawatt shortfall in five years. "The Pulangi V is expected to generate more than 300 megawatts," he added. Mr. Cortezano said they have revised the dam’s design to reduce its impact on tribal communities as well as on the ecosystem. "If they have facts that [a certain location is really sacred], then we will discuss with them possible solutions. Could we transfer it according to their cultural practices?" he added. The Pulangi-Manobos earlier submitted an application for their ancestral domain, feeling the need to be legally recognized in the consultations on the dam project. However, the approval has yet to reach the regional office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. "These applications usually take long in getting processed for lack of funds," said Datu Tommie J. Laban, regional director of the commission. "Our budget allotment is really small." The project, based on a plan shown during previous consultations of Greenergy and FIBECO, would affect agricultural and timber lands in the municipalities of Damulog, Kibawe, Dangkagan, Kitaotao, Quezon and Don Carlos in Bukidnon, and President Roxas in North Cotabato. Pulangi V is part of a network of six hydropower dams on Pulangi River. Of the six, only Pulangi IV with 255 megawatts in the town of Maramag has been completed. -- Louise G. Dumas
Published in Business World on November 02, 2009
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