The CPA also raised the issue of the San Roque Dam (SRD) where seven of its floodgates were opened recklessly, which resulted in the flooding of almost the whole province of Pangasinan, affecting nearby towns of the neighboring province of Tarlac. The CPA said the dam was never meant to serve the people but rather for the government to rake in profits. The CPA said it could never control floods as proven by the recent incident contrary to the government’s past claim that it can. In the upstream part of neighboring Benguet, there are already 11 tailings dams and two heavily silted hydro-dams lying on the Agno river and the dam is catching the water spills from these.
The CPA further stated that people’s opposition to the San Roque Dam was raised to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she assumed power in 2001. Arroyo, CPA said, ignored it as she prioritized the interest of the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), which financed the construction and operation of the dam. The CPA said that if only the opposition was heeded as early as during the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos, the worst flooding may not have happened. “Now, we expect more cases of not merely flooding but deaths and loss of property,” the CPA added.
The CPA said the San Roque Power Corporation, the JBIC, Ramos and Arroyo regimes should be held accountable. The CPA also said that the San Roque Dam should be decommissioned immediately to save more lives, livelihood sources and properties.
“The damages brought about by climate change, environmental disasters and the ruling elite’s greed for profit and wealth accumulation are made the burden of the poor majority and populations highly vulnerable to its impacts,” the CPA concluded. (Aldwin Quitasol / Northern Dispatch)
