KIBUNGAN, Benguet – Alarmed indigenous peoples (IP) leaders from various barangays in this municipality questioned the alleged bias of some members of the field-based investigation (FBI) team created by the Cordillera office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP-CAR) to initially look into the potential areas that will be affected by the 500-megawatt pump storage hydro project of the Coheco Badeo Corporation in barangay Badeo for their alleged bias to the proponent.
A number of IP leaders, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, claimed instead of discussing the merits of the proposed project, some FBI team mebers had been allegedly doing character assassination to some personalities belonging to a different local power corporation which was supposed to be not part of the designed activity.
“We were surprised to hear from some FBI team members the character assassination against some officials of another local power corporation which had been repeatedly relayed to them by an official of the proponent of the 500-megawatt project in Badeo. We do not need those kinds of information to derail the integrity of their competitor because we are old enough to understand issues and not simply rely on petty quarrels among proponents for us to favour their project,” the concerned IP leaders stressed.
Some IP leaders laughed off the childish approach being employed by an official of the proponent just to discredit the valid issues being raised against the project without satisfactorily responding and answering their queries, saying that it seems that the proponent is undermining the intelligence of the IPs which should not be the case as they should directly answer the issues being hurled against them.
According to them, it is impossible that nearby Kapangan will not be affected by the ambitious hydro project when it will involve the building of two huge dams that will surely result to the displacement of thousands of IPs not only from Kibungan but also from Kapangan and even up to Santol, La Union, thus, the proponents should not actually hide the real information and situation from the IPs because they are aware of what will happen to their communities even without being presented with the facts.
The sources added there were already precedents wherein proponents claimed that there were communities that will be eventually spared from their dam projects but it ended up that because of siltation and the effects of climate change, the pinpointed communities were eventually submerged and thousands of IPs were displaced from their domain and deprived of their sources of livelihood.
Some of the IP leaders believe money already changed hands between some FBI team members and the proponents because of the way their meeting was handled as if they were trying to discredit a certain power company for the IPs to believe on what they think is gospel truth on the part of their environmentally critical project in the remotetest barangay of the municipality.
The IP leaders said it is impossible that Kapangan will not be affected by the project when the dam will be located above it, thus, massive displacement of IPs will be submerged due to the expected siltation that will go through time.
By HENT
Sir/ma’am,
We greatly thank your news team for giving much attention to our hometown in Kibungan especially at this point when it is undergoing development stage; Thank you for enlightening the people about how hydro projects should be handled without giving them the exact details on the entire process and procedures including the participation and roles of the different government offices; Thank you for your patience and indulgence in continuously feeding the people specially at Kibungan, Benguet misguided data and information regarding the acts and omissions of the corporations involved in the above-mentioned hydro projects as well as the various government agencies involved; Thank you for all your team’s efforts in discrediting the corporations formed by your source’s highly detested South Korean Businessman and destroying the people’s trust and confidence in these corporations as well as its officers; Also, thank you for everything your team has done to help develop our hometown, IF ANY. And finally, thank you for always guiding the people with your fair and well balanced news.
Also, with all those articles that you float almost every week, we have come to know the meaning of libel, contempt and the true meaning of a Code of Ethics. We are also forced to read the constitution and other articles relating to freedom of the press and information and its limitations.
We really hope that in the future, if in the event that the above-mentioned hydro projects does not prosper, your team will be bringing, funding and/or sponsoring projects purposely for the development of our hometown in Kibungan, Benguet. All for the best interest of our country especially our hometown in Kibungan.
Thank you very much.
Respectfully,
Anonymous