PRESIDENT Duterte has decided to proceed with the construction of the Kaliwa Dam in Rizal and Quezon provinces, a project that has been held back for years because of several issues raised against it.
The Haribon Foundation and other environmental groups oppose the dam for it will destroy the habitat of so many Philippine wildlife, including the endangered Philippine Hawk-Eagle, the Philippine Brown Deer, the Philippine Warty Pig, the Northern Rufous Hornbill, and the Philippine Eagle, which are said to be found nowhere else on the planet. The area was thus declared a forest reserve by Presidential Proclamation 1636 in 1977 and a portion of the watershed was declared a National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary.
The area is the ancestral home of the Dumagat-Remontados, one of the country’s native tribal groups whose sacred sites, including burial grounds, will be inundated by the reservoir once the dam is built. Their community of 1,000 households in barangay Daraitan in Tanay, Rizal, and another community of 500 households in barangay Pagsangahan, General Nakar, Quezon, will be submerged.
There is also the Commission on Audit (COA) objection to the $219-million contract with China Energy Engineering Corp. (CEEC) Limited. The COA has charged that its awarding violated the country’s legal bidding process, including the criteria for competitiveness.
In announcing his decision to proceed with the Kaliwa Dam project, President Duterte said it appears to be “the last resort to have water for Manila.” He said the government will pay and relocate the indigenous people who will be affected by the dam project. As for the environmental issues, he said that whoever is in charge should place the proper safeguards.
The issues raised by the COA on the contract awarded to China Energy Engineering Corp. can be corrected. The COA simply wants the provisions of the law on competitive bidding to be strictly followed.
That leaves the matter of the destruction of the natural habitat of so many Philippine species of wildlife. We need assurance that the threatened species will not be lost to extinction as a price for the construction of the dam.
Kaliwa Dam will be a big part of the effort to provide sufficient water supply for Metro Manila’s burgeoning population. But even if we start now, its construction now, it will be completed only in 2023.
Even more sources of water will be needed and there are already plans for the renewed use of the old Wawa Dam, drawing water from Laguna de Bay, and drilling new deep wells. We may also have to resort to the process of desalinating seawater, a process that Israel has already developed for its desert areas.
