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| Photo by the Author |
Back in September, President Bongbong Marcos
spearheaded the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council's
situation briefing on Super Typhoon Karding. In the briefing, these words were uttered by him.
"Is that the trend? ‘Yan na yung climate change? Wala naman tayong ganiyan noon eh. Matagal na tayong nagbabantay ng bagyo. It's not, doesn't… Hindi ganiyan. Oh well. Okay, so that's something we have to deal with."
His statement evoked the public to comment
on his obliviousness to climate change talks despite giving a speech on the
issue during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly earlier on that same month.
The climate change catastrophe is rapidly becoming burdensome for humans globally, particularly in the global south like the Philippines. Because of the country's location in the
West Pacific, it is naturally susceptible to extreme and frequent disasters.
The Philippines is one of the most typhoon-prone regions, averaging 19-20 typhoons
annually, with at least 7 to 9 making landfall. The continuous natural
disasters are pushing our lives to the end corner—and the Kaliwa Dam project further validates these concerns.
Proposed way back in 2012, the Kaliwa Dam Project is part of the New Centennial Water Source Program, a flagship project
of the Build, Build, Build Program by former President Rodrigo Duterte. It
promises to deliver a capacity of 600 million liters of water per day to the
country's capital region, the Metro Manila area.
The Duterte administration acknowledges the
dwindling water supply, supporting the construction of another dam to reduce
sole reliance on the Angat Dam. In 2019, they secured a 283.2 million US dollar
loan deal with China to subsidize the project, ending a public-private
partnership with Japan, and becoming burdened by an extortionate assistance loan with 2%
interest. Alongside China Energy Engineering Corporation Limited, a Chinese
contractor was chosen to supervise the dam.
Former President Duterte sees the
construction of the Kaliwa Dam as a last resort to meet the surging demand of
people in the metro area.
From the looks of it, the Kaliwa Dam is set
to sustain the needs of the people. However, the effects of the ongoing project
seem to delve away from the problem and just be a band-aid solution that will make
conditions worse for the country. This water supply scheme may be a key to the
Metro Manila water shortage, but at its Pareto Efficiency (an economic situation wherein there's maximum allocation efficiency), it poses a threat to
the environment and the people.
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| Photo from The Guidon |
The Sierra Madre, the longest mountain range
in the Philippines and backbone of Luzon—traverses the provinces of Cagayan,
Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna,
and Quezon. The 500-kilometer-long mountain range acts as a natural barrier
against the onslaught of typhoons and storm surges that annually hit the
country. It can mitigate strong winds and absorb heavy rains preventing floods
in the area, as the slender hope of the country's survival from these
calamities.
Aside from safeguarding the people and the
country, the Kaliwa Dam should be put to a halt for a variety of reasons. Here
are five reasons why we should save the Sierra Madre from the construction of
Kaliwa Dam:
Costly price
The building of Kaliwa Dam
will entail an unnecessary 283.2 million dollars or 10.37 billion pesos
commercial loan from the Exim Bank of China. It has a significantly higher
interest rate of 2% compared to the previous 1.25% public-private partnership
with Japan. This further exacerbates the debt-ridden economic status of the
country. The Filipino people will bear the burden of paying these onerous
loans. In turn, this may cause the government to conform to their conditions
and surrender the Philippine assets and resources, and in time, our territory
to settle the loan.
People
The target construction will
affect the ancestral domains, and ethnic communities will lose their structure
and control over natural resources. Although compensated and promised new
housing, it will be a constant struggle to sustain themselves without help from
the Sierra Madre. The project also failed to secure Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC), a requirement under the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997—acknowledging the rights of IPs to their ancestral lands. This goes to show
that the MWSS is working around the system to manipulate and railroad the legal
processes.
Environmental damage
Continuing the dam project
will sacrifice approximately 16,000 trees, thereby increasing the risks of
heavy flood and downplay protection against typhoons and storm surges, posing a
risk for at least a hundred thousand lives. The government insists that the
Kaliwa Dam produces minimal environmental impact, saying that its benefits
outweigh the disruption; however, with climate change progressing at a fast
pace, no effect is minimal. Similarly, the project is currently on hold as
there were issues with securing an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC)
from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which further
proves that the project rejects the requirement of minimizing the environmental
impact of the dam.
Threat to the biodiversity
The Philippines is one of
the 17 mega biodiverse countries that contains two-thirds of the earth's
biodiversity and about 70% of plants and animal species worldwide. Throughout
the years, we have seen many changes within the ecosystems; several plants and
animals have become extinct because of exploitation and pollution. Intruding
the Sierra Madre will endanger the wildlife thrive, displace flora and fauna,
and lead to the extinction of the Philippine Eagle.
China-biased provisions
From its hiring to
implementation, the bidding was open only to Chinese contractors despite being
a Philippine project. The project is handled by China Energy Engineering
Company, Inc. (CEEC) and The Metropolitan Waterworks Sewerage System (MWSS).
Similarly, the loan agreement includes clauses that are disadvantageous to the
country. Article 8 Miscellaneous of the loan agreement stipulates that disputes
will be governed by Chinese Law and dealt with under the auspices of the Hong
Kong International Arbitration Court.
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| Photo from Business Mirror |
Proclamation 413, s. 2012 was issued by the late former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, declaring September 26 of every year as Save Sierra Madre Day to help boost awareness among the general public on the importance of preserving our forests, as well as protecting, managing, and properly utilizing the natural resources of the country. It is proper and fitting to make September 26 of every year Save Sierra Madre Day to remind our people of the risks and dangers that apathy and inaction bring to the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Ten years since the late former president made the issuance, it is still as relevant as ever.
Over the years, Sierra Madre withstood
thousands of typhoons and showed again and again just how crucial it is to
impede the adverse effects of extreme weather events. We would have suffered
adverse effects without the impenetrable walls of Sierra Madre. Despite many
concerns raised, the government continues to create havoc with implementing
Kaliwa Dam, stressing desperately just how much of a benefit it will be. At the
core of it, if ailing people, trees, animals, and resources of Sierra Madre
cannot preclude this scheme, what else will?
While Metro Manila has legitimate concerns
about water supply, they should not be addressed at the expense of human rights,
our environment, Philippine laws, and sovereignty.
Indeed, Sierra Madre lives up to its name,
the backbone of Luzon, and has done its job. Now its future is in our hands.
Thus, let us call on the government to revoke the Kaliwa Dam Project. Start
today by signing the petition found at Change.org.
#SaveTheSierraMadre #NoToKaliwaDam
Note: This is in continuation of the four-part series article to promote environmental education and foster action-driven motives. Stay tuned to UST-CASA Chronicle's official Facebook page for updates on the succeeding articles as we explore the wonders of forestation in the typhoon-prone Philippines.
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