San Roque Dam Opens May 29 but Opposition Mounts

The controversial San Roque Dam Project, said to be the government’s showcase of progress, will be inaugurated on May 29. How about those who were displaced? Bulatlat.com interviewed people from the resettlement sites to know what they are going through as a result of the dam’s construction.

BY ARABELLA FORDAN
Bulatlat.com

Inside the compound of the San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC) in Pangasinan, agricultural lands are now buried under tons of cement.

There are no rice fields in the area occupied by the San Roque Dam Project which is 1.13 kilometers long and whose fences are 200 meters high.

In San Manuel and San Nicolas, Pangasinan, the dam site is a picture of “progress” for the power industry. It is symbolic of national development according to the SRPC, National Power Corporation (NPC) and the Philippine government.

Those who had to leave their homes and give up their livelihood believe otherwise. They know that once the government flagship project operates, they are bound to lose more than what they have already lost during the dam’s construction.

Since the construction started in 1997, life has become more difficult for the people who once benefited from the river’s resources.

“All we do now is wait for famine,” says Manang Ansi Banayat, 58, of Sitio Bubon in San Manuel. She remembers the time when they had a relatively better life. In the past, they went to the river to pan for gold and they still had land to till. 

Manang Ansi was eight years old when she started to learn about the river’s “gifts to the people.” Coming from a family of tenant farmers, she panned for gold with the rest of her family. Through all those years, the river’s resources helped their family survive. 

When she got married and started a family of her own, gold panning and farming also became her family’s source of livelihood. Everyday was arduous work, but she had no regrets since she was able to put food on the table and to send her children to school. 

Things are different now

They are currently renting half a hectare of land to till. They harvest 30 sacks each cropping season and only three sacks are left for their family’s consumption until the next harvest season.  

Her three children got married and two of them already own tricycles.  But since there are more tricycles than passengers in the area, the small business did not flourish. Since they were not able to renew their registration, they use the tricycles as “services” for running errands and going to their farm in Sitio Cavite. 

In desperation, some people in the area are forced to sneak into the SRPC compound to gather scrap metal and wood. 

One of her daughters is now based at the Camanggaan Resettlement. Her daughter reveals that life is also difficult there. The cooperative given to them is not prospering and she believes that it will soon face bankruptcy.  Given the reality that there is no sustainable livelihood for them, she finds it hard to pay her monthly electric and water bills. 

Displacement and resettlement 

Rodolfo and Esmeralda Albay, after 45 years of living in Sitio Bolangit were forced to leave in August 2002 when the impoundment for dam’s reservoir started. They are still waiting for the promised compensation for their crops. They moved to San Felipe East together with the rest of their children. Their family was able to buy hectares of land but they only have one cropping in a year. They solely depend on rain for irrigation. 

Manong Rodolfo says that there are victims who were paid twice for their crops. There are also cases of false claimants in their area. These claimants are said to be associated with some of the barangay officials of San Felipe.     

Susie Ranse, a daughter of Manong Rodolfo and Manang Esme, says that life is much harder now for her and her three children.

Manang Susie is a mother of three children: Lenlen, 16; Susan, 11 and Lester, 4 mo. She always finds it hard to get money to buy milk for her younger child. Her husband, a truck driver, is now in Isabela. They hardly ever see each other due to his work. 

This coming school year, Lenlen – her eldest - could not attend college anymore because of the high cost of education and their current condition. Instead, she will look for a job to help her younger sister Susan finish at least Grade VI. 

Sally Capututan, also a daughter of the Albays, lives in the Lagpan Resettlement. “Life is tough in the resettlement area,” she says. Sometimes there is no water. One time, the electricity was cut off because she could not pay her bills. 

Like the Banayats and Albays, relocated families who were promised better lives continue to suffer. More and more of them are selling their houses in resettlement sites and move to where there could be sources of livelihood or jobs for them. They constantly state that the livelihood projects of NPC have not been enough to meet their basic needs which they used to have in their former communities. 

A series of dialogue have been conducted between the SRPC, NPC and Tignay dagiti Mannalon a Mangwayawaya ti Agno (TIMMAWA), Shalupirip Santahnay Indigenous Peoples Movement (SSIPM) and Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA). The dialogue mainly focused on compensation and livelihood for the affected communities in Itogon, San Manuel and San Nicolas. 

Thousands of economically-displaced gold panners remain uncompensated despite demand for monetary compensation and for sustainable livelihood. The gold panners demand from the SRPC and NPC P171, 000 ($3,250.95) as payment for the three-year income loss of each goldpanner in San Manuel and San Nicolas. The amount was based on the minimum income each gold panner could get. 

Meanwhile, the Ibaloi communities in the upstream of the San Roque dam consistently declared their opposition to the dam, because of its adverse impact on their life as indigenous communities, on their land, properties and sources of livelihood. They believe that the siltation problem can never be mitigated.  

The TIMMAWA, SSIPM and CPA call on the national government to ensure an independent evaluation and investigation on livelihood projects and compensation funds. There is a need to confirm the possibilities of graft and corruption.  

Now the dam will be inaugurated on May 29 despite the outstanding issues that the people brought to their attention. Meanwhile, the people outside the dam continue to organize and demand social justice. Bulatlat.com

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