BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – Those opposing the multibillion-peso Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project (JRMP) II in Calinog, Iloilo are seeking a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) from the Supreme Court.
A TEPO will effectively stop its construction.
There are procedural lapses in the project, foremost of which is the lack of proper consultation with the people affected most especially the indigenous peoples (IPs), said Hope Hervilla of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan – Panay.
The P11.2-billion mega dam project will be constructed in the hinterlands of Calinog, Iloilo.
Construction of canals which are part of the dam has already started even if the IP community has not given their free prior informed consent (FPIC), said Hervilla.
“FPIC is a requirement before a project could start. So there is a clear violation of the rights of the IP,” she said.
Groups opposed to the project have banded together under the Jalaur River for the People Movement and commissioned a study on the project.
According to Jung Bub Mo, a Korean anthropologist and lead researcher, people in the affected areas were not informed, most especially of the project’s impacts.
The feasibility study on project must be made available, he stressed.
Jung also said the environmental impact assessment (EIA) that should have been undertaken by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was not complied with.
Worse, the project was issued with an Environment Compliance Certificate even without the required EIA, Jung said.
DENR could not be reached for comment as of press time.
“We hope the Supreme Court will issue a Temporary Environmental Protection Order,” said Hervilla.
October last year, the Supreme Court issued a Writ of Kalikasan against the project. It later ordered the Court of Appeals to hear and decide on the petition seeking to stop the construction of the dam.
A Writ of Kalikasan is a legal remedy which provides for the protection of one’s right to “a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature,” as provided for in Section 16, Article II of the 1987 Constitution.
The Jalaur River for the People Movement will present its findings to the court, Hervilla said.
“With these un-complied procedures, the project should not have started. But the construction of the canals have begun,” Jung said.
He urged the implementing agency – the National Irrigation Administration – to “go back to normal procedures, otherwise Korean money would not be released.”
South Korea is mainly funding the mega dam through a loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea.
“I am very concerned. Marginalized people should not end up as victims of this development project,” Jung said.
The Jalaur mega dam seeks to upgrade the existing irrigation systems coverage in Iloilo from 22,000 hectares to 31,840 hectares of farmland. The goal is to increase rice production.
Calinog’s Mayor Alex Centena said the mega dam will also harness the power of the Jalaur River to produce additional electricity estimated at 6.6 megawatts.
It will augment, too, the province’s and Iloilo City’s supply of potable water for domestic and industrial use, mitigate flooding and promote eco-tourism, he added.
If Centena were to be believed, the project will also generate employment for 17,000 workers during construction.
But biologist JM Ayuste of the Jalaur River for the People Movement claimed otherwise.
People were assured of jobs but it turned out that most of the people hired were from Negros, not from the affected communities, Ayuste said.
Among others, the group also found out that some of the residents had been promised payment for their affected crops but what was given them were not as promised.
The Jalaur River for the People Movement raised alarm over the construction of the high line canal as early as last month.
More than one kilometer from the main road going to the Jalaur River in Sitio Alawihaw, Barangay Agcalaga, it found construction materials and heavy equipment.
The Newington Construction Company, a Manila-based construction company, had started bulldozing the mountains for the canal, said the group.
According to workers the group had asked, one canal was going to Passi City and the other was going to Lambunao town.
As of June, about eight to 10 kilometers of canal construction from Sitio Alawihaw up to Barangay Badlan Pequeño was being dug, said the group./PN
