A network of cause-oriented groups opposed to the construction and activation of Kaliwa Dam on Thursday said President Duterte may have been misled in his decision to push through with the project seen as a solution to Metro Manila’s shrinking water supply.
According to the Stop Kaliwa Dam Network, the multibillion, China-funded 600 million liters per day (MLD) water reservoir project in Rizal and Quezon provinces is not even for the “greatest good for the greatest number.”
Responding to President Duterte’s statement to the Southeast Asian leaders during the 35th Asean Summit to “not sacrifice the environment and the region’s rich biodiversity…in its quest for progress,” the Stop Kaliwa Dam Network urged Duterte to prove his sincerity by scrapping the controversial Kaliwa Dam Project altogether.
In a news statement, the group said the water security concern is not just a “Metro Manila versus indigenous communities” issue.
They insisted that the issue of water security should not be used to put the concern of Metro Manila residents for reliable water supply against the legal rights of the indigenous peoples over their ancestral domain.
According to the Stop Kaliwa Dam Network, there are practical, alternative water solutions available which are less costly and would cause minimal impact to the environment compared to P12.2 billion Kaliwa Dam project.
They said that drawing more water from Laguna Lake, fast-tracking the rehabilitation of the Wawa Dam, tapping idle supply from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) facilities, and curbing wasteful water use are some of the solutions to the perennial water supply shortage in Metro Manila.
“Combined, these can provide the same, or even more water, than the planned Kaliwa Dam. These options are just as viable and will not entail the same negative impacts as the Chinese-funded Kaliwa Dam project that will cost at least P12.2 billion and is anticipated to cause massive damage to Sierra Madre’s biodiversity, as well as displace thousands of indigenous peoples from their ancestral domains,” Fr. Pete Montallana, one of the conveners of the broad Stop Kaliwa Dam Network said in the statement.
For Rovik Obanil of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Duterte is either misinformed or he is deliberately misinforming the public about the project.
“While it is true that the indigenous people of Quezon and Rizal have a major stake in this issue, the impacts of the project go far beyond the concerns of IPs or Metro Manila’s residents. The fact that the funding for the dam project will largely come in the form of a bilateral loan with a sovereign guarantee means that all Filipinos are guaranteeing this loan against default. Unless a mechanism is created whereby only Metro Manila’s residents are made to pay for the dam, in general, a bilateral loan is paid for with taxpayers’ money. This means that ultimately, the cost will be borne even by those who will not see one drop of water from Kaliwa Dam,” Obanil added.
Belinda de la Paz of the Haribon Foundation, for her part, said equally important is the issue of potential biodiversity loss in pursuing the project.
She said there are identified species which are vulnerable, threatened or endangered, and some of them are found nowhere else in the world.
“There are 21 threatened tree species under DAO 2017-11 and 19 globally threatened tree species under the IUCN’s red list of threatened species that will be affected by the proposed development project,” she said.
Other significant species, such the Philippine Eagle, Northern Rufous Hornbill, Philippine Warty Pig and Philippine Brown Deer are found only in the country.
“So indeed the stakes are high, not just for Filipinos but, in fact, for the entire world. We have a duty to do what we can to preserve these species for future generations,” she said.
Lastly, Montallana warned that the recent spate of earthquakes, including the 5.5-magnitude quake in Quezon last November 7, should serve as a wake-up call given that experts have said that the seismicity study for the Kaliwa Dam is inconclusive and that the construction of a 60-meter high dam itself could compromise the ground in the area.
“A dam break would put tens of thousands of people in the towns and villages downstream in serious danger,” Montallana warned.
“If President Duterte is truly thinking about the ‘greater good,’ he should listen to the experts who criticized the failure to employ good science in the Environmental Impact Statement submitted by the project proponent and slammed the EIS of the Kaliwa Dam as a ‘technically deficient, inconclusive and poorly written document used to justify the issuance of the environmental compliance certificate,” Montallana said.
Image credits: MWSS
2 comments
INDEED, ECOSYSTEM IS TO BE PRESERVED AND BIODIVERSITY ENSURED FOR OUR CHILDRENS AND FUTURE GENERATIONS. ALTERNATIVE TAPPING WATER SOURCE IS LAGUNA LAKE RATHER THAN BUILD THIS KALIWA DAM.
yes do the Laguna lake development instead of kaliwa dam