KIBUNGAN, Benguet – Mayor Cesar Molitas admitted the earlier confession made by concerned indigenous peoples (IP) leaders that local residents in the different barangays are actually confused on which among the two proposed hydropower projects in their area is realistic and attainable.
The local chief executive pointed out that what the people want is for the first project which the IPs gave their consent, i.e., the 60-megawatt run-off-river project to be undertaken by the Cordillera Hydroelectric Power Corporation (COHECO) in Cuba, Kapangan, should be implemented and completed for them to see whether or not the project will be beneficial to the host and neighboring communities before dealing with another company that intends to put up a 500-megawatt hydro project in barangay Badeo.
“We hope that COHECO will fulfill its commitment to start the construction of its 60-megawatt project in Cuba, Kapangan since the IPs are closely watching the developments of the project which has been delayed for quite some time now. We have to show to the people that something is being achieved before we again try to secure their consent for a much bigger project because they want first to see whether or not the first project that was endorsed will actually benefit them,” Molitas stressed.
He added there are indications that COHECO is about to start the construction of their hydro project as the company and local officials of Kibungan and Kapangan already broke ground for the construction of the 27-kilometer road from Cuba, Kapangan to Badeo, Kibungan which is part of the company’s commitment to the IPs when the people gave their consent for the project.
For the 500-megawatt pump storage hydro project being proposed by the CohecoBadeo Corporation in Badeo, Kibungan, Mayor Molitas underscored that the Cordillera office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP-CAR) already acquired jurisdiction over the matter for the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) process to be pursued as provided under Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA).
According to him, local officials cannot blame concerned IP leaders from the different barangays to raise their issues against the proposed pump storage project because of the serious negative impact of the project to the environment, to the ancestral domain of the IPs and the economic activities of the people in the affected areas.
Molitas disclosed he could not also prohibit other neighboring towns in Benguet and La Union from invoking their rights to be consulted on the project because they are aware of the impact of the project to the IPs in their ancestral domain that is why there is still a long way to go for the project unlike the other project which was already endorsed by the IPs in Kibungan and Kapangan towns.
He appealed to the IPs in Kibugan to continue being vigilant in the implementation of the 60-megawatt project in Kapangan and the conduct of the FPIC process for the 500-megawatt pump storage project in their municipality so that they could raise their issues in time for the proper action of officials of the companies pushing for the projects.
By HENT
