by Marian Chriselle Galvan
IP Leaders from different communities in Ifugao held out banners calling against the construction of the hydropower complex.
Community leaders from five communities in Lamut and Lagawe, Ifugao (Hapid, Nammug, Dulao, Banga and Tupaya) filed a resolution in opposition to the construction of SN-Aboitiz’s Alimit Hydropower Complex in their ancestral domain, at the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP – CAR), February 17.
Particularly, the leaders pointed out the problems brought by the construction of tunnels and river diversion to their livelihood, land, as well as its effect on their culture.
During the dialogue with Atty. Atanacio D. Addog from the Regional Attorney’s Office of the NCIP, IP leader from Tupaya, Benedict Tanguid presented the issues brought by the project.
“Mas adaddu ti perdiyen na deta nga project. DIjay laeng propenents na iti agbiyag nga usto. Adaddu kami nga pumakaro pay iti rigat na nu maawan ti danum. Maawan tu pay ti tao ijay ata, apay agyan ka idjay nga awan danumen,” he said.
[A lot will be destroyed by the project. The proponents are the only ones benefitting from it. Many of us will be severely affected if ever the water was diverted. The people will also be displaced. Why would anyone live there when there’s no water, he said.]
Additionally, the Nammug IP leader voiced the effects the project would bring to their community’s agriculture impended by the closure of streams. Concerns on the possible flooding of residential areas and the community’s livelihood were also brought up.
In response, Atty. Addog resolved to settle a dialogue between the parties involved, including the community and SN Aboitiz.
IP leaders file the resolution and petition against the Alimit Hydropower Complex at the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples regional office in CAR, February 17.
According to Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) news release, Tanguid countered the claims by SN-Aboitiz of the issues being resolved and stated that the affected communities continue to strongly oppose the project.
Furthermore, the resolution filed by the community reiterated that there was no “consensus-building” that happened between the parties.
This is in violation of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), which according to the Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations allows Indigenous people to give or withhold consent to a project that may affect them or their territories.
“Ang gusto kong mangyari ay wag ipatuloy ang project, dahil ito ay nagdudulot ng pagkawatak-watak ng mga tao at ng mga komunidad sa aming ancestral domain,” Tanguid shared the results he hoped for.
[What I want to happen is the project discontinuing, because it brings about the separation of the people and the communities in our ancestral domain.]
Edited by Christel Janela Baptista