By SAMMY JULIAN
THE Tumandok people are the largest indigenous people’s group in Panay.
However, the Ecumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines (EANP) has claimed that with the impending construction of the Jalaur mega dam in Iloilo, 17,000 Tumandoks are threatened to be displaced from their homes.
The EANP’s allegation was contained in a letter dated June 30 to the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) to appeal the project’s cancellation.
The letter said the mega dam project will be devastating to the Tumandok people who will lose their ancestral lands and livelihood.
According to EANP, historically the Philippines does not a have a good record of providing for the welfare of indigenous peoples displaced by large-scale development projects and they are concerned that history is being repeated with the Jalaur dam project.
But NIA Public Affairs and Information Officer Pilipina B. Bermudez has an answer to these claims.
Bermudez stressed that they respect what EANP is fighting for but what they are looking into is “what will be helpful for farmers and what will be helpful for the nation.”
She further dismissed reports of intimidation of the Tumandok people as baseless.
The NIA has been meeting with the Tumandok and they are fully aware of the situation regarding the dam, Bermudez said, and they go out of their way to explain the project very thoroughly.
She said the Tumandok community, estimated at 17,000, will not be left on their own as they will be given resettlement homes.
On October 31 last year, the Supreme Court granted the petition filed by former Iloilo congressman Augusto Syjuco Sr. seeking a Writ of Kalikasan.
There has been little progress on the dam project since that time and, we recently learned, will not continue with expanding as long as the hearings are ongoing.
Nevertheless, the project has been granted an P11.2-billion budget to develop an additional 9,500 hectares (7,000 hectares of rice lands and 2,500 hectares for sugar), apart from the current site of 22,340 hectares.
Our take on this “latest” issue?
Naturally, the proponents of a project of this magnitude would have made sure that all bases are covered. In a nutshell, those who will be directly affected will be consulted so problems are encountered once the project gets underway. Otherwise, precious resources and time are lost.
Assurance has been made by the people in authority that if the project is finally carried out, the Tumandok will be their priority for employment opportunities.
Besides, it has also been pointed out that the project will help in rice production, as well as the production of hydroelectric power with a 6.6 megawatt capacity.
So where’s the problem here? None, we believe./PN
