A group of scientists has condemned the government’s “railroading” of discussions with indigenous people (IPs) affected by the Kaliwa Dam project.
The government has reportedly barred members of the Dumagata-Remontado tribes from participating in the discussions on the memorandum of agreement validation and community royalty development program (CRDP) in Quezon to railroad the implementation of the project.
The Kaliwa Dam had its groundbreaking ceremony on June 29, attended by Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Rafael Yabut III and Chinese Embassy charge d’ affaires Tan Qingsheng.
A group of scientists has condemned the government’s “railroading” of discussions with indigenous people (IPs) affected by the Kaliwa Dam project, according to a Yahoo! News article.
Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM) said in a statement on January 30 that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has barred several members of the Dumagat-Remontado tribe from participating in discussions on the memorandum of agreement validation and community royalty development program (CRDP).
The organization cited reports that representatives from the communities of Tamala, Maksa, Masanga, and directly affected communities of Yok-yok, Baykuran, and Makidata in Quezon were not allowed to enter the venue after they failed to get tested for Covid-19.
The tribe members claimed that they were not informed of the said requirements prior to the event and has since expressed their distrust of the antigen testing as they believe the results might be tampered with by NCIP personnel.
History of railroading
According to the statement, the locals’ distrust was rooted in the NCIP’s history of railroading the Kaliwa Dam project without following proper protocols in obtaining consent from the IPs.
The incident happened amid the continuous rise in new Covid cases, with Quezon province still under Alert Level 3.
AGHAM expressed that NCIP and MWSS should have postponed the consultation given the situation. They called on the government to investigate the conflict in securing permission from affected IP communities.
“We remind the NCIP that its primary mandate is to serve the interests of indigenous peoples, not corporations who seek to encroach and desecrate ancestral lands. We reiterate our stand against the Kaliwa Dam due to its negative consequences on the environment and associated human rights violations on Dumagat-Remontado communities living along the affected areas,” it said.
‘Follow environmental laws’
The group also called on the government to “properly follow environmental laws, and laws that protect the environment and indigenous peoples from destructive projects such as the Kaliwa Dam.”
According to STOP Kaliwa Dam (Sectors and Peoples Totally Opposed to Kaliwa Dam), a network of local and international organizations and institutions, the project will affect the ancestral domains where 5,000 Dumagat-Remontados are situated.
RENEWED OPPOSITION TO KALIWA DAM. Members of indigenous groups staged a rally today (January 31) in front of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) office in Quezon City. The groups called on the MWSS and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to scrap plans for the Kaliwa Dam, as well as two other major dam projects in Rizal province, due to alleged violation of the rights of the indigenous Dumagat tribes that inhabit the Kaliwa River watershed area. Danny Querubin
Destroy the biodiversity
Moreover, they said that the project will destroy the biodiversity and habitat of 126 species in 300 hectares of the Sierra Madre and endanger 100,000 residents downstream with the risk of massive flooding.
The network currently has an ongoing petition calling the president to stop the Kaliwa Dam Project, citing that the project “violates legal processes and the Philippine constitution, is destructive to the environment, and is against the country's national interest.”
Tags: #indigenouspeoples, #KaliwaDam, #Dumagat, #AdvocatesofScienceandTechnologyforthePeople