ILOILO City – Three persons who went to South Korea to protest the construction of the P11.2-billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage II (JRMP II) were declared persona non grata by the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Calinog, Iloilo.
“They want to hamper the development of our locality,” read part of the SB resolution.
The three persons were Remia Castor of Barangay Alibunan, Calinog and council member of the Tumandok Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the municipality; John Ian Alenciaga, coordinator of the Jalaur River for the People’s Movement; and Cynthia Deduro, executive director of Dagsaw Panay and Guimaras Indigenous People’s Network.
The mega dam, to be funded by the South Korean government, will be constructed in the hinterlands of Calinog.
The three went to South Korea in April and in meetings with lawmakers there, officials of the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. claimed the mega dam would displace and violate the rights of Calinog IPs.
According to SB, the three “made derogatory, untruthful, and misleading information” and damaged the integrity of the council of IP elders in Calinog, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
NIA is the implementing agency of the mega dam project. It has been coordinating with the NCIP and the council of elders in making Calinog IPs understand the importance of the dam.
When completed, JRMP II would be the biggest dam outside Luzon. It will provide year-round irrigation to 22,340 hectares under five existing irrigation systems and 9,500 hectares of new irrigation area covering 33 municipalities in Iloilo province.
It also has the capacity to generate 6.6 megawatts hydro-electric power and around 86,400 cubic meters per day of potable water for domestic use of nearby municipalities.
According to SB member Renato Casinao who sponsored Resolution No. 2018-044 declaring Castor, Alenciaga and Deduro persona non grata, the IPs of Calinog gave their consent to the mega dam project in accordance with IP Rights Act of 1997.
In March Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. as winning contractor of the mega dam received a Notice of Award from NIA.
The groundbreaking will be next month. Construction will last for 46 months.
Castor, Alenciaga and Deduro dismissed the SB resolution declaring them persona non grata as harassment.
Alenciaga insisted they have the legal right to travel anywhere in the Philippines or broad.
“Wala sa layi naton nga gina-limit kita sa pag-travel unless may martial law,” said Alenciaga.
He claimed their South Korean trip was successful and the local government of Calinog was simply desperate.
“We met with South Korean government officials, the officers of the Korea Eximbank and Daewoo. We secured their commitment not to construct the mega dam this June,” claimed Alenciaga.
Deduro, meanwhile, said the SB resolution was “wala pulos” (useless) and baseless.
“Naakig sila sa amon kay may mga intereses sila,” she told Panay News.
The project involved the construction of three dams, a 6.6-megawatt hydropower plant and an 81-kilometer canal.
The implementation of the JRMP was mandated under Republic Act 2651 enacted by Congress in 1960.
Stage I of the project, which consisted of rehabilitating the irrigation systems with an area of 22,340 hectares, was completed in 1983.
Stage II, however, was never implemented since 1988 due to lack of funds.
In July 2016 the Jalaur River for the People’s Movement, an alliance composed of environmental advocates, peoples’ organizations, church people, members of the academe and indigenous people’s organizations, launched an international solidarity mission against the mega dam project.
It claimed the project will directly affect 16 IP communities, nine of which will be totally submerged in water.
It also warned of adverse ecological impacts.
The main infrastructure, according to the group, would be located 11 kilometers from the active Western Panay Fault which caused a strong earthquake in Panay Island in 1948./PN
These 3 person can’t proof that the said 16 IP communities will be submerged in water is all baseless. Are these communities are all in ground zero their theory is based in heresy. These 3 person doesn’t understand the meaning of prosperity and alleviation of life. No scientific finding that this dam can displaced harm the people within Calinog and the entire IP’s in general.