Tabuk City, Kalinga – The Department of Energy (DoE) has given the go signal to two locally based companies to prospect and tap geothermal energy in the province despite stiff opposition to the project.
Natividad Sugguiyao, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) provincial director here, informed the media that DoE Secretary Angelo Reyes has signed the geothermal service contract (GSC) in favor of the Aragorn Power and Energy Corporation (APEC) and the Guidance Management Corporation (GMC) to jointly explore for geothermal energy in some 26,250 hectares located in the municipalities of Pasil, Tinglayan and Lubuagan, all in Kalinga.
Sugguiyao clarified, however, that although the GSC covers areas in Tinglayan and Lubuagan, the exploration will only be made in Pasil until such time that the tribes in the ancestral domains affected in the two other towns will give their free and prior informed consent (FPIC) to the activity, if they ever will.
Regarding the fear raised by the oppositors that the inclusion of the tribal domains of the tribes which did not give their FPIC to the map of the project, Sugguiyao said that it is speculative even as she expressed confidence that the tribes will respect each other’s boundaries.
“Besides, there are safeguards in the MOA (memorandum of agreement) between the communities and the companies that in the event that exploration will be done in the borders with tribes who have not given their consent to the project, there will be consultations with the bodong holders (bodong enforcers) of the concerned tribes,” Sugguiyao said.
Sugguiyao said that they have conducted preliminary consultations with the affected tribes in Tinglayan and Pasil with Tulgao outrightly rejecting the project. The other tribes have yet to arrive at a consensus because in the case of Sumadel and Uma, they want to see an actual geothermal project first. As for Dananao, they said they want to consult among themselves further first.
“It’s not that they do not want the project. They just want to see if the project has no adverse effects on the community and be assured they are making the right decision,” Sugguiyao said.
The opposition to the project by members of the affected tribes in Lubuagan and Pasil centers on why the DoE included their ancestral domains in the GSC when they have not given their FPICs to the project.
“They have put the cart before the horse. Under the IPRA (Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act), an FPIC should first be obtained before any endeavor could be undertaken in an ancestral domain. The GSC should only have covered Pasil and not Tinglayan and Lubuagan,” Silverio Daluping of the Tulgao tribe of Tinglayan, one of the oppositors, told this paper.
He said that the approval of the GSC leaves them with no option but to take legal action.
“The Law Review Center of the University of the Philippines whom we have consulted said that the GSC violates the IPRA and that they will file the necessary case in court,” Daluping said.
“What the NCIP does not realize is that if the affected tribes in Lubuagan and Tinglayan will see that their lands are included in the project without their consent, they might make trouble with the tribes of Pasil who gave their consent. They might also disturb the flow of work in the project,” Daluping said.
In reaction to the statement of Sugguiyao that there are safeguards against possible misunderstandings between the tribes who gave their FPICs and those that did not in the MOA, Daluping commented that “we should not wait for something to happen before we act. Before embarking on the project, everything should be cleared first. The DoE should have altered the GSC accordingly.”
Daluping made it clear that they are not questioning the conduct of the FPIC process in Pasil but they are taking issue with the DoE for including the other ancestral domains where FPICs were not given and against NCIP for not advising the DoE accordingly.
Sugguiyao said that the GSC gives the APEC and GMC the right to explore for geothermal energy in the area and, if warranted by the results, produce geothermal energy. The two activities will have a maximum time frame of 50 years.
Sugguiyao called the project the biggest investment made in the province in recent years.
Pasil Mayor James Edduba told the media that if the estimated 60 megawatts potential of the area is realized, the geothermal operation will not only be the biggest in the country but it will make the Philippines surpass the United States as the foremost user of geothermal power in the world.
Aside from prospecting for geothermal energy, APEC is also involved in petroleum exploration in the Cagayan Basin while GMC also holds the GSC for the Amacan Geothermal Prospect in Compostela Valley and two Coal Operating Contracts.
Edduba and Sugguiyao informed that the entry of the GMC into Pasil in 2006 was attended with controversy because it started to explore without first undergoing the process required by the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA).
They said that because of the offense, the firm was fined by the Balatoc and Colayo tribes in the amount P1M in the form of community projects in 2007.
The process of obtaining the consent of the affected tribes was undertaken in 2007 and the Pasil tribes finally gave their FPICs for the project on February 8, 2008. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW
Natividad Sugguiyao, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) provincial director here, informed the media that DoE Secretary Angelo Reyes has signed the geothermal service contract (GSC) in favor of the Aragorn Power and Energy Corporation (APEC) and the Guidance Management Corporation (GMC) to jointly explore for geothermal energy in some 26,250 hectares located in the municipalities of Pasil, Tinglayan and Lubuagan, all in Kalinga.
Sugguiyao clarified, however, that although the GSC covers areas in Tinglayan and Lubuagan, the exploration will only be made in Pasil until such time that the tribes in the ancestral domains affected in the two other towns will give their free and prior informed consent (FPIC) to the activity, if they ever will.
Regarding the fear raised by the oppositors that the inclusion of the tribal domains of the tribes which did not give their FPIC to the map of the project, Sugguiyao said that it is speculative even as she expressed confidence that the tribes will respect each other’s boundaries.
“Besides, there are safeguards in the MOA (memorandum of agreement) between the communities and the companies that in the event that exploration will be done in the borders with tribes who have not given their consent to the project, there will be consultations with the bodong holders (bodong enforcers) of the concerned tribes,” Sugguiyao said.
Sugguiyao said that they have conducted preliminary consultations with the affected tribes in Tinglayan and Pasil with Tulgao outrightly rejecting the project. The other tribes have yet to arrive at a consensus because in the case of Sumadel and Uma, they want to see an actual geothermal project first. As for Dananao, they said they want to consult among themselves further first.
“It’s not that they do not want the project. They just want to see if the project has no adverse effects on the community and be assured they are making the right decision,” Sugguiyao said.
The opposition to the project by members of the affected tribes in Lubuagan and Pasil centers on why the DoE included their ancestral domains in the GSC when they have not given their FPICs to the project.
“They have put the cart before the horse. Under the IPRA (Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act), an FPIC should first be obtained before any endeavor could be undertaken in an ancestral domain. The GSC should only have covered Pasil and not Tinglayan and Lubuagan,” Silverio Daluping of the Tulgao tribe of Tinglayan, one of the oppositors, told this paper.
He said that the approval of the GSC leaves them with no option but to take legal action.
“The Law Review Center of the University of the Philippines whom we have consulted said that the GSC violates the IPRA and that they will file the necessary case in court,” Daluping said.
“What the NCIP does not realize is that if the affected tribes in Lubuagan and Tinglayan will see that their lands are included in the project without their consent, they might make trouble with the tribes of Pasil who gave their consent. They might also disturb the flow of work in the project,” Daluping said.
In reaction to the statement of Sugguiyao that there are safeguards against possible misunderstandings between the tribes who gave their FPICs and those that did not in the MOA, Daluping commented that “we should not wait for something to happen before we act. Before embarking on the project, everything should be cleared first. The DoE should have altered the GSC accordingly.”
Daluping made it clear that they are not questioning the conduct of the FPIC process in Pasil but they are taking issue with the DoE for including the other ancestral domains where FPICs were not given and against NCIP for not advising the DoE accordingly.
Sugguiyao said that the GSC gives the APEC and GMC the right to explore for geothermal energy in the area and, if warranted by the results, produce geothermal energy. The two activities will have a maximum time frame of 50 years.
Sugguiyao called the project the biggest investment made in the province in recent years.
Pasil Mayor James Edduba told the media that if the estimated 60 megawatts potential of the area is realized, the geothermal operation will not only be the biggest in the country but it will make the Philippines surpass the United States as the foremost user of geothermal power in the world.
Aside from prospecting for geothermal energy, APEC is also involved in petroleum exploration in the Cagayan Basin while GMC also holds the GSC for the Amacan Geothermal Prospect in Compostela Valley and two Coal Operating Contracts.
Edduba and Sugguiyao informed that the entry of the GMC into Pasil in 2006 was attended with controversy because it started to explore without first undergoing the process required by the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA).
They said that because of the offense, the firm was fined by the Balatoc and Colayo tribes in the amount P1M in the form of community projects in 2007.
The process of obtaining the consent of the affected tribes was undertaken in 2007 and the Pasil tribes finally gave their FPICs for the project on February 8, 2008. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW
7 comments:
Thank you for the update. I twittered your article on IndigMapNetwork because of the issues between unresolved tribal boundaries. Are the Indigenous communities also using map solutions digital or otherwise, to solve their issues?
If you are referring to any modern scientific method the answer is a definitive "NO". Though someday maybe; who knows! I don't think even the state (municipal governments) had FULLY utilized any modern methods in determining and hence resolving boundaries. Tribes may still cling and rely on the indigenous way of asserting territorial claims (i.e. where they used to hunt and place their pit-traps, among others). At any rate, an inventory of indigenous practices in resolving boundary disputes is a good area of research...
ha...y..if that project continue without the consent of other tribes surely that will create big trouble in Kalinga ( specially Tinglayan and Lubuagan people against to those tribes (makasarili) who give their consent.
it is a big and open plunder if the Governance force to implement their project without tribes (which is affected on that)clear approval.
thanks very much sa update.
I believe in total peoples' participation and such information on the pros and cons of such project should be disclosed to them. As long as the geothermal project will use the state of the art equipment, there will be no problem on pollution. However, if this will open doors for open pit mining at the end of the day, that is another thing because will totally destroy the remaining rainforests in the province of Kalinga as well as the legacy of the tribes. How about the benefits, the government here are the members of the tribes being affected and must not the Manila people as stipulated in the Bodong Law. The project covers ancestral domains, not public forests. NCIP should be the champions of the people here, they should not think about their pockets rather their responsibility to the IPs.I was stunned when I learned that a contract on a geothermal powerplant will be established in my adopted Municipality. I will only hope that this will not encourage more subversions in the future and that the tribes will be divided. If this will happen, the plant should not continue and be stopped! "From: FIR TREE of UMA!
....i am a member of a tribe na pinaguusapan dito.. we are openminded people and we welcome improvements in our community. howeveer, we won't compromise the future of the next generation with a project which will benefit ONLY those who are alive today. we don't want any troubles in our peaceful communities. IF THEY DO NOT RESPECT THE DECISION OF OUR ELDERS, THEN, IT'S A 'NO-NO'.
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