The Kaliwa, Kanan and Laiban Dams: Are these Climate Change Solutions?

This article was initially published in 2019.

Dams are man-made barriers that control water flow to suit man’s needs for water or

hydroelectric power. It is man’s way against nature’s way. It is an invention intended to provide a water source that can be controlled and sold to consumers as a commodity, rather than as service, water being a primal need to be able to live.

Today, dams are big business ventures in spite their obsolescence. Built on foreign loans and payable on terms that include control of the economy of debtor nations, dams cost billions but the havoc it creates for nature and environment costs much more. “While these barriers provide no benefits to communities, they still prevent rivers from flowing freely, contributing to the disappearance of freshwater species, particularly migratory fish that cannot reach their spawning grounds. Obviously, this also affects birds feeding on fish as well as many other animals.”

It is for this reason that dams are no longer a consideration in different parts of Europe and even in the US, so why are dams being constructed still in the Philippines? Will no amount of reason stop the Kaliwa, Kanan and Laiban dams from inundating the watershed and ancestral land of the Dumagat Remontados of Quezon, Rizal and Aurora?

Environmental Cost and Climate Change

The New Centennial Water Source Project (NCWSP) is a massive dam project conducted in stages namely the Laiban, Kaliwa and Kanan phases. Construction of the Laiban dam started during the Marcos era but later abandoned and shelved by succeeding administrations. The Aquino government revised the original plan and opted to construct the Kaliwa Low Dam first before the other stages. The present dispensation has adopted this plan.

The NCWSP is a hydroelectric project that will inundate 28,000 hectares of land and forests that include farms and homes of the Dumagat and Remontado tribes.4 291 hectares of these are within the environmentally critical area – Real-Infanta-General Nakar Natural Park (REINA) and Wildlife Sanctuary and Game Preserve (NPWSGP) and the Kaliwa watershed. Forests are natural suppliers of water, absorb carbon from the atmosphere and contribute largely to rainfall volume. Protecting forests is a major climate change mitigation measure and should be a foremost priority to cope sustainably to global warming.

The large scale project shall threaten the natural source of water and cause irreversible damage to the biodiversity of the Sierra Madre. Deforestation will also increase the likelihood of floods and landslides brought about by effects of climate change. To be affected by these are farms and homes in the lowland areas of Quezon, Rizal and Antipolo. The Agus river also provides food for the communities like freshwater migratory fish which will disappear or become extinct once the dam operates. Aquatic species will be also be destroyed because of sedimentation. Both construction and operation phases will damage the natural habitat and endanger food security

of the surrounding communities.

During the celebration of Dumagat Day, the indigenous people expressed lament on the possible demise of the Agus river when the dams are built. This implies the demise of their tribe. The NCWSP will aggravate the effects of climate change, contribute to the carbon pollution and worsen people’s vulnerability to extreme weather events. Building the dams will not only obliterate the indigenous tribe , the Sierra Madre forests and all living forms within it but also the hope that climate change mitigation (through forest conservation) brings for a livable future of generations to come.

Social and Cultural Cost

According to the Dumagat Sierra Madre, 10,000 Dumagat and Remontado people will

be displaced by the project. These indigenous people are presently among the poorest and most vulnerable highland dwellers .They are small farmers and food gatherers who are neglected and deprived of basic social services and suffer from discrimination and want. The revival of the NCWSP has given them a perilous situation because of continuing pressure from government agencies like the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), the Department of Natural Resources (DENR) and the MWSS to give their consent.

Historically, since the time of Marcos, killings and torture of Dumagats resisting the construction of dams have occurred. Recently, the indigenous people spoke of several incidents of employees or representatives of the DENR and NCIP coming to the communities to speak to the tribal leaders or barangay captains, offering cellphones or other gifts and taking pictures of gatherings . These were not genuine consultations since no one from these agencies explained the project nor gave adequate assurances of relocation and compensation. The presence of police and military in some of these sham consultations also affirms that the violation of the principle of “free” consent. While the Dumagat Sierra Madre remain steadfast in their fight for ancestral domain, the DENR has issued an Environmental Impact Study and Environmental Compliance Certificate, citing the completion of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from the Dumagat and Remontado people which is now being contested with the sworn testimonies. There never was informed consent.

Economic and Political Implications

IBON Foundation questions the decision to construct the multi billion peso dam funded by loans, given an undeniably weak economy . With an already outstanding government debt of 7.8 trillion pesos and a budget deficit of P 558.3 billion as of 2018, how can it borrow more? Also questionable are the disadvantageous provisions that subvert sovereignty in the China loan agreement that would fund the dams. The loan is under ODA or official development aid intended to “advance foreign policy and self interests” of lending nations, in this case China. Defaults in payments within 30 days will be meted with stiff penalties that include surrender of assets and resources.

IBON also said that the loan is explicitly governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of China (Article 8.4) and any disputes will be settled in the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (Article 8.5). Also, in the agreement’s Article 8.1, the

country “waives any immunity on the grounds of sovereignty or otherwise for itself or its property in connection with any arbitration proceeding” on assets within the territory of the Philippines unless prohibited by law. The agreement practically surrenders everything — natural assets and even the Philippine constitution to China because of a dam loan.

The NO to NCWSP says, we do not need these dams. They will harm the environment

and the people, bury the country in debt, subvert sovereignty to China and aggravate the climate crisis.

The Only Solution to the Water Crisis?

“Certainly not“, says AGHAM (Science and Technology for the People), a group of

scientists at the University of the Philippines in a talk titled “Water Crisis : Tubig sa Tubo hindi Tubo sa Tubig”.

AGHAM conducted a review of the existing water sources and projects and looked into the amount of water that could be supplied under optimal conditions. When combined, these sources could supply a total of 5,633 million liters per day, which is more than what the Angat Dam could supply. Hence, the construction of the Kaliwa Dam is unnecessary. These sources can provide adequate water supply for Metro Manila at less expense for the government. Cited sources in the forum are the Laguna lake, the Ipo and Lamesa dams that can meet the demands. Measures to collect rainwater, recycle and treat waste water and even desalinate seawater are all feasible and with minimum environmental impact but were not considered by government. A new dam construction should have been a last resort or even not considered at all. Only China and not the Filipino people will benefit from the NCWSP.

A struggle continues

The struggle ongoing for more than a year now since the launch of the NO to NCWSP in September 2018 has expanded to involve the Catholic and Protestant churches, lowland farmers, local government units, members of the legal and medical professions and national and international organizations.

In spite the clamor to be heard, several attempts to stir public opinion through legislative hearings were unheeded. NO to NCWSP wrote letters and appealed to upper and lower house legislators. The MAKABAYAN group in Congress filed House Resolution 15 and Rizal Representative Fidel Nograles filed resolution 309 both seeking to probe the project on grounds of bidding anomalies, failure to seek FPIC, questionable haste in the issuance of an ECC , human rights violations in the affected communities and the environmental effects. The hearings have not materialized as of the present. Letters to members of the upper house have yet to receive positive responses. Senators Poe and Binay said that the issue is not a priority at the moment. Pickets, dialogues and mass actions at the DENR failed to stop the issuance of the Environmental Compliance Certificate or ECC for the Kaliwa Lower Dam. The alliance has called for its revocation and strongly questions the veracity of its processes.

For even one Dumagat to refuse consent is enough reason to call off the NCWSP, according to BAI Indigenous People Network chair Kakai Tolentino. In November 4, 2019, the group opposed to the dam together with a legal team and the Dumagat and Remontado people filed an appeal to DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu to cancel the ECC hastily issued in October 2019. The ECC violated several laws and processes, among them the Expanded NIPAS Act of 2018, the Local Government Code of 1991, and the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997. The Environmental Management Bureau also failed to respond to procedural and technical issues raised in various position papers. The concerns of stakeholders were also not included in the impact statement.

Awaiting the response of the DENR, the legislative probes and results of campaigns, the network continue to consolidate and strengthen its ranks. A petition signing to oppose the dams has been launched. Meanwhile, the Dumagat and Remontado communities continue to organize themselves and assert their rights for self determination and development in their own ancestral abode.

For the CCNCI, dams are ineffective to address climate change droughts and would

cause more damage. Most importantly, it will render people more vulnerable, exacerbate poverty of peasants and the indigenous, endanger food security and senselessly destroy nature and its redeeming capacity to address climate change. NO to NCWSP!