P12.2B Kaliwa Dam Project Construction suspended

Tabuk City, Kalinga─The Centennial Water Source Kaliwa Dam Project by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the China-based contractor has been agreed to stop its construction until the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process is finalized.

This is according to the House Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) and Indigenous People (IPs) during the held hearing on June 09, 2021.

Congressman Allen Jesse Mangaoang, Chairman on Cultural Communities and Indigenous People, remarked that public hearings are being held to assure that fair and equitable conclusion will be achieved for both parties.

On the other hand, Atty. Josefina Agusti, regional hearing officer of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Calabarzon, reported that no FPIC has been consummated yet.

“The status of FPIC process is still on the discussion of the technical teams of both MWSS and NCIP as far as the share of the profit on the IPs is concerned,” she stated.

The certification is one of the requirements needed by the MWSS to proceed with the construction of the water reservoir that will affect communities in Quezon and Rizal.

What is the Kaliwa Dam Project?

Kaliwa Dam Project is a joint venture of Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) to have the capacity to treat as much as 600 million liters of water per day (mld) traversing the provinces of Rizal and Quezon.

The P12.2- billion dam project was proposed by the Philippine government way back in 2012.

In 2014, the Kaliwa Dam project was initially rolled out as a Public-private partnerships (PPP) project. However the government under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 chose to instead push through with the project under an Official Development Assistance (ODA) scheme.

The final loan agreement was scheduled to be signed by government officials of both the Philippines and China in November 2018.

The project, however, has been met with opposition as community groups said over 14,000 households of mainly indigenous peoples would be displaced.

Last month, over a hundred Dumagats attended a negotiation of the draft memorandum of agreement for the controversial dam project.

Atty. Josephone Agusti of NCIP said the MWSS and the communities failed to reach an agreement on the share of profits for the utilization of natural resources extracted from the ancestral domains of Dumagat communities.

With Dumagat ICCs involved, Mangaong concluded that Kaliwa dam project will become a representation of progress and modernization even so the committee wishes not to leave the affected indigenous people communities with nothing.

“Let me reassure you dear IPs and ICs that this committee will stand by you, we will make sure that you will receive what is just and equitable and that you will not be shortchanged and left at the losing end of any transaction you enter into,” he expressed.

Meantime, the House Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples unanimously agreed to issue a cease and desist resolution as proposed by Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate.

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