BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said city officials are willing to dialogue with their counterparts from the Tuba municipal government and the Benguet provincial government to thresh out major issues that cropped up relative to the transfer of water rights of the Asin river from the Baguio Water District (BWD) to the city after the expiration of the lease contact between the water district and its private developer, the Davao Lights and the Hydroelectric Development Corporation (HEDCOR).
The local chief executive said the city government will initiate the conduct of the said dialogue anytime after Tuba municipal officials and Benguet provincial officials expressed their vehement objection to the petition of the city before the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) for the transfer of the water rights over the Asin river from the BWED to the city considering that it will be the latter which will be now operating the city-owned minihydro plants in the jurisdiction of Tuba town.
“We have to hold a dialogue with our brothers and sisters in Tuba and Benguet for us to be able to address the issues being raised against our petition for the transfer of water rights over the Asin river from BWD to the city. We have to rembmer that the city-owned minihydro power plants have been exiswting over the past several decades prior to the effectivity of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act and other related laws, rules and regulations,” Domogan stressed.
Earlier, the Tuba municipal government passed a resolution opposing the petition of the city government before the NWRB seeking the transfer of water rights of the Asin river from the BWD to the local government and that the same was upheld by the provincial board of Benguet.
However, Domogan argued there is no longer a need for the conduct of the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) with the affected indigenous cultural communities since the operation of the minihydro plants had been under the city government way before the implementation of the IPRA, thus, the need for the conduct of the appropriate dialogue with concerned municipal and provincial officials in order to address such concerns pending the resolution of the city’s petition before the NWRB.
It can be recalled that the city government bidded out the operation of the Asin minihydro power plants which was subsequently won by Klatimex Energy Philippines and that the memorandum of agreement for such purpose is stil pending confirmation before the city council.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered the city government to cease and desist from operating the Asin minihydro power plants sometime in 2012 because of the local government’s failure to secure a certificate of compliance from the regulatory agency to guarantee its sustained operation of the power plants and for such operations to adhere to existing standards in the operation of renewable energy facilities prescribed by law.
Domogan called on Tuba and Benguet officials to be circumspect on the issues being raised over the Asin minihydro power plants since the same could be resolved through constant dialogue being good and responsible neighbors within the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) growth area.
By Dexter A. See
