By SHERWIN DE VERA
www.nordis.net

VIGAN CITY — A multibillion dam project in Northern Philippines has broken the peace and harmony in Kabugao, the capital town of Apayao. The promised development has divided the once united communities.

Since 2019, members of the Isnag indigenous peoples have resisted the entry of hydroelectric power projects that would flood several villages, including fertile farms and sacred burial grounds.

Pan Pacific Renewable Power Philippines Corporation (PPRPPC) plans to build four megadams along the Apayao-Abulog River. The company said the project will provide “a clean and sustainable alternative energy source” and “a long-term solution to the increasing demand for power in the Philippines.”

PPRPPC secured a hydropower service contract from the Department of Energy in 2011 for the 600 MW megadam. It redesigned the reservoir into four impoundments in 2016, including the 335 MW Gened 2 HEPP costing P51.3 billion, the 191 MW Aoan Dam, and the 170 MW Calanasan Dam.

Shattered unity

A group of 56 “genuine elders and leaders” hailed the NCIP’s verbal approval for Gened 1 to proceed, saying the project “will uplift the lives of so many generations to come.”

On top of the company’s social development programs, the ancestral domain owners will also receive royalties. From Gened 1 alone, the communities will get P192.41-million for its 25-year operation. The second project is still under negotiations.

However, community leaders have also released resolutions reiterating their opposition against the project, saying the dams would destroy their land, life, livelihood, and culture.

These elders see the dams as their doom, like 51-year-old Angelo Umingli from Barangay Poblacion.

“Many people of Apayao are dependent on the Apayao River. That is why they call us river people,” shared Umingli.

The three-time provincial board member, serving from 2007 until 2016, said Gened 1 would affect nine barangays, submerging Barangays Bulu, Magabta, Poblacion, parts of Waga, and portions of Balag in Pudtol municipality. It will also impact the villages of Laco, Badduat, Luttuacan, Nagbabalayan, and Cabetayan, also Kabugao.

Research conducted by peasant group Alyansa ti Pesante iti Taeng Kordilyera (Apit-Tako) said the construction of Gened 1 HEPP would immediately displace boatmen and fisherfolk from their livelihood. It will also force farmers to abandon their swidden farms near the site.

Umingli said another three communities would become part of the reservoir if Gened 2 pushes through. “Just imagine if they succeed in constructing all of the four dams,” he added.

“We cannot allow them to continue the project, to sacrifice and displace us from our comfort zone for the power supply they need,” he said.

Fanning the dispute

The free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), a process mandated under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), has failed to quell the unrest.

“Before the project and the FPIC, everything was okay. Discussion on the issue does not escalate to heated arguments. If the dam pushes through, it will result in more conflict,” Umingli said.

The elder shared that even their indigenous labor exchange and communal work practices have been affected by the rift.
“During planting or harvest season, we practice innabuyog. Now, those opposing the dam refused to help individuals supporting the project and vice versa,” Umingli lamented.

The rift between the opposition and those supporting the project started to intensify when on March 14, 2017, the NCIP held a consensus-building activity for Gened 1 in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. This activity overturned the first Resolution of Non-consent passed by the affected communities.

On December 20, 2019, the municipal IP mandatory representative called for a meeting where the participants supposedly delegated the authority to several elders to negotiate the project. The meeting also sought to overturn the second Resolution of Non-consent.

The “clandestine” signing of the Memorandum of Agreement by the “authorized representatives” concluded the FPIC process. It also aggravated the dispute among members of the tribe.

NCIP’s Regional Review Team (RRT) noted in its July 14, 2021report that both activities were marred with irregularity, citing the expressed prohibition of FPIC activities outside the ancestral domain. The report said the December 20 activity was not part of the FPIC process, noting that “it was not coordinated with the FPIC Team, but one called by the municipal IPMR purposely to ‘ensure acceptability of the project.”

The same report raised the questionable signatures attached to the MOA and the resolution sanctioning the “authorized representatives” to negotiate on behalf of the ancestral domain holders.

Flawed process

These findings, which reached community members, cemented their suspicion that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) colluded with PPRPPC, creating hate and distrust for the agency.

The most recent of these alleged maneuverings of the NCIP to favor the proponent is the railroading of Gened 2. The opposition also accused the agency of using the Philippine National Police to limit their participation in the community consultations.

Nordis called NCIP-CAR Officer-in-Charge Atty. Atanacio Addog for comment, but he directed us to former NCIP-CAR FPIC focal person Rocky Ngalob, who said he does not know the Gened 2 proceedings.

However, he said that the RRT stands by its adverse findings on the Gened 1 FPIC process and their recommendations.

“Our recommendation was for the Regional Director to reconstitute the consensus-building and decision-making process and direct a probe of the reported falsified community resolution,” he said.

Ngalob used to be part of the RRT for the Gened 1 FPIC. The regional office reassigned members of the RRT on September 16 last year. Addog, then the Regional Attorney, headed the FPIC team formed by Regional Director Atty. Marlon Bosantog for Gened 1.

Section 16 of the 2012 FPIC Guidelines prohibits the Regional Attorney from being part of the FPIC team.

Despite the issues raised by the RRT, Bosantog forwarded the FPIC documents to the national office and defended his decision before the Commission En Banc. Gened 1 got the verbal approval of the commission for the projects on August 13 last year.

Dismayed with NCIP’s facilitation of the FPIC on the Gened HEPPs, the communities declared Addog, Bosantog, and Apayao Office chief Atty. Geoffry Calderon unwelcome in their lands. # nordis.net