More groups are reported to be joining a movement to oppose the construction of the P12-billion Kaliwa Dam project.
Citing the potential adverse impact of large-dam construction and the recent flooding in Luzon triggered by Typhoon Ulysses, groups opposed to the Kaliwa Dam on Sunday reiterated the call for the cancellation of the project and pushed for the protection and rehabilitation of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
Some 500 people took part in a protest action with residents of the Real, Infanta, General Nakar (REINA) towns in Quezon being joined by groups from that include bikers and riders, youth, Dumagat representatives from Quezon and Rizal, fisherfolks from SAVED Rizal, and the Urban Poor Alliance committee and other flood-affected communities in Metro Manila.
“Today we remember the flash floods and landslides in 2004 brought by Typhoon Winnie, exacerbated by illegal logging in the Sierra Madre. This tragic event killed more than 1,500 people and caused millions worth of damages. However, our government appears to forget this tragedy with its consistent support of the Kaliwa Dam that will destroy about 300 hectares of our forest areas,” Conrad Vargas, one of the conveners of STOP Kaliwa Dam Network and the Executive Director of Save Sierra Madre Network Alliance said in a news statement.
Residents of General Nakar and Infanta in Quezon and Daraitan in Tanay, Rizal experienced up to neck-deep flooding during the onslaught of Ulysses, days before the anniversary of the deadly flash flood in 2004.
More than three weeks after Typhoon Ulysses, hundreds of families remain homeless, specifically in Daraitan, and many riverside homes in Tanay, Rizal. They fear that they would experience worse once the dam is built.
“This early when there’s still no dam, the flooding we are experiencing is already affecting even upland barangays in Tanay, what more when the dam is constructed? This will completely submerge communities, our ancestral lands, and destroy the mountains. We are appealing to those living in the urban area to oppose the Kaliwa Dam,” Ma. Clara Dullas, of the Kababaihang Dumagat ng Sierra Madre (K-GAT) appealed.
Marcelino Tena, leader of SAGIBIN-LN, one of the indigenous groups in Quezon, for his part, likewise, expressed his opposition to the dam. “The Kaliwa Dam will bring harm to indigenous communities because this will destroy life, the environment and our ancestral land. We don’t want this dam because this will only be a burial ground of people, nature, culture, our rights and freedom,” he said.
“Kaliwa Dam will not only destroy our natural protection from typhoons and other disasters, it will also worsen the impacts of climate change. Climate change has significantly altered the rain patterns, to the point that it is already unpredictable. Just like what happened recently with the onslaught of five consecutive typhoons in Luzon. Dams swell to their highest water level due to frequent extreme rainfall; thus the catastrophic water releases,” explained Ian Rivera of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, also one of the conveners of the STOP Kaliwa Dam Network added.
“The continuous destruction of our watersheds through large development projects, and the neglect and incompetence of our government to protect the environment, continue to endanger the lives of the people, particularly during climate change-induced typhoons and other extreme weather events,” Rivera added.
Bishop Bernardino Cortez of the Prelature of Infanta reiterated that resistance to the Kaliwa Dam as a matter of survival. In light of the climate emergency, “we continue to call on the government to focus on alternative solutions and technologies—rehabilitation and conservation of Kaliwa Watershed and the Sierra Madre, reduction of non-revenue water through the repair of existing water systems, reinforcement of rainwater collection in every barangay, and sustainable and efficient water demand management system, among others.”
Image credits: Business Mirror file photo