Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 1 February 2 - 8, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' WATCH Drought
Threatens Ilocos, Benguet Farms, Fishponds Ilocano and Igorot upland farmers are up in arms over an ongoing energy project that diverts waters from two mighty rivers stretching from Cervantes, Ilocos Sur to Bakun, Benguet. If fully operational, the water diversion project will bring drought to scores of ricelands and threaten food security – in short, an economic disaster. By
Arabella Fordan BAGUIO
CITY - Drought threatens some 1,400 hectares of riceland, vegetable orchards and
fishponds in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur and Bakun, Benguet. This
disaster looms as a 3.6-meter wide, 9.8-km.diversion tunnel that stretches from
sub-sitio Matotot-o, Papassok, Barangay Dalipey in Cervantes to Sitio Dalinguan,
Barangay Sinacbat in Bakun, Benguet will soon rise. The tunnel diverts the
waters of the Lomboy and Suyoc Rivers. If
fully operational, the Bakun AC Supplementary Water Project is expected to cause
drought to some 500 has. of riceland in Cervantes, and another 75 has. of
riceland, 145 has. of vegetable orchard and 646 sq.m. of fishponds in Bakun,
totaling 1,366 has. Windel
Bolinget, secretary general of Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), over the
weekend said if the Lomboy and Suyoc Rivers are diverted Cervantes communities
will be denied of water for irrigation, pasture and residential purposes. Some
of the worst hit towns in Ilocos Sur, said Bolinget, is Guitlangan. Water from
the two rivers is the town’s only source of fresh water as water coming from
Mankayan is polluted brought about by the mining operations of Lepanto
Consolidated Mining Company. The two rivers dilute toxic water coming from
Mankayan, he said. But
residents of Cervantes and Bakun are not taking the imminent disaster sitting
down. Villagers of Barangay Rosario have secured a resolution declaring their
opposition to the project which also diverts water from the Lomboy Creek and
Suyoc Rivers. The resolution also says that the diversion tunnel will bleed dry
the irrigation supply of the farm villages of Comillas North and Comillas South. As
a result, the residents said, farm production will be threatened forcing them to
buy instead of producing rice at a higher price. Echoing
the Ilocanos’ concern, residents of Barangay Kayapa, Bakun, south of Ilocos
Sur also oppose the tunnel. Citing their own experience, they said that a tunnel
has been built covering lower Takbo to Pilpil in Kayapa. In their resolution,
the Kayapa residents said the tunnel of the Luzon Hydro Corporation/HEDCOR has
dried up their water supply. Affected by the tunnel, they said, are several
sitios and sub-sitios of Kayapa. In
violation of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) signed in 1997, the corporation
failed to provide electricity to the town and build a new P2-million access road
from sitio Pilipil to Kayapa, the residents also said. Similar
resolutions against the water project have been issued by other barangay
councils as well as indigenous peoples organizations. In Sinacbat, Bagu, the
Dalipey Indigenous Peoples Association (SIPBAD), a local organization, has led
protests against the project since last year. In Ampusongan , the Bakun
Indigenous Tribes Organization, Inc. (BITO), has demanded a moratorium on the
project particularly within the Kankanaey-Bago ancestral domain of Bakun. A
supposed Power Purchase Agreement signed by the National Power Corporation (NPC)
allows independent power producers, including the Luzon Hydro, to use
supplementary water to the power plant without any feasible alternatives. In
1992 and 1993, three commissioned power plants, the Takbo, Labay and Lon-oy
power plants in Barangay Poblacion and Sinacbat began to harness the hydrostatic
powers of Bakun and Lon-oy Rivers. The
Bakun AC Supplementary Project is reportedly designed to supplement the
70-megawatt monthly energy output of the power station at Pilpil by diverting
water from the Bakun River and a nearby river in order to power
a new 10-megawatt power plant. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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