BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – No less than the head of the 40-member council of elders of the Sulodnons or Panay-Bukidnons in Calinog, Iloilo where the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project-Phase II (JRMP-II) is located is debunking claims of militant groups that they have not been consulted regarding the mega dam’s construction.
“The claims of Iloilo City-based organizations like Bayan Panay that there was no public consultation or any dialogues with indigenous peoples is not true,” said Leopoldo Caballero in Karay-a, the local language of the Sulodnons.
Leopoldo, also the leader of the Hugpong Pumuluyo Para sa Kalinungan kag Kauswagan (People United for Peace and Development), said that even before the mega dam project was presented to the provincial government and other authorities, there has already been a series of dialogues, consultations and negotiations regarding their ancestral rights since the middle of 2012 until 2013.
Leopoldo is also the brother of Federico “Pedring” Caballero, the chanter of Sulodnon epics who was awarded by the government in 2000 as Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan or National Living Treasure and who now leads the preservation and revival of the Panay-Bukidnon culture in Calinog.
The Sulodnons also said what the militants presented in their press conferences were indigenous people who were mostly residents of Tapaz, Capiz and not of Calinog, Iloilo.
“Tanan nga isyu nga ran puro kabutigan. Mapirma timo ka dyang MOA nga dya kon way kaw ginkonsulta (The issues that the militants raised were all lies. We wouldn’t have signed the memorandum of agreement with NIA had we not been consulted),” said Caballero.
Engr. Gerardo Corsiga, National Irrigation Administration Region 6 manager and mega dam project officer, said the government is making sure that the rights of the Sulodnons are honored.
“All that is stipulated in the memorandum of agreement will be properly and judiciously addressed by the Philippine government,” said Corsiga.
Before they signed the agreement which gave NIA a free and prior informed consent (FPCI) to conduct a feasibility study on the mega dam project, Caballero said a series of assemblies and consultative meetings were held. The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) facilitated them.
“The NCIP explained the project’s objectives,” said Caballero.
Corsiga said the government will deliver on what is in the memorandum of agreement, mainly that the Sulodnons’ ancestral rights will be protected; they will be given financial compensation; they will be provided loans, jobs and economic development projects such as farm-to-market roads; as well as housing and relocation for those directly affected.
With the villages of Garangan, Masaroy and Agcalaga (also called GMA area) to be submerged when the dam becomes fully operational, NIA Region 6 has come to an agreement with the villagers that they will be relocated still within the GMA area as requested – notably by Leopoldo Caballero who lives there with other relatives.
Caballero clarified that agreement contained only FPIC 1 for the conduct of a feasibility study.
When the results of the feasibility study are presented to them, that would be the time they will decide whether to issue – or deny – a FPIC 2 for the start of the actual construction of the mega dam.
The P11.2-billion project will benefit the city and province of Iloilo with a projected delivery of 75,000 cubic meters of potable water and 32,000 hectares of rice lands irrigated.
The mega dam will also generate 10 to 15 megawatts renewable power.
Caballero said they are hopeful their lives will improve. They see the project as a chance for community members to get employed.
“Dyan nagkaramal-am, dyan nagkarapatay ang kalolohan namon, waay man ka it improvement. Sa pagsuporta kang gobyerno, basi dayan ka ran makatibawas kami nga mga Bukidnon (Our ancestors grew old and died without seeing improvements in their lives. With the government’s help, Bukidnons could improve their lot),” he said./PN
