BAKUN, Benguet – The Cordillera office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP-CAR) issued a Cease-and-Desist Order (CDO) to HEDCOR’s 3 run-of-river hydro power plants in the municipality due to alleged irregularities on the Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) process and the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the company and the Bakun Indigenous Tribes Organization (BITO) signed on October 15, 2019.
However, HEDCOR, Inc. vice president for corporate services Noreen Vicencio stated that the company had been compliant with all the requirements during the course of the FPIC process that resulted to the signing of the MOA between the parties and that HEDCOR had been waiting for the issuance of the required certificate pre-condition since the MOA was signed.
The CDO will take effect 5 days after the company shall have received the same where it was ordered to cease operations of its Lower Labay hydro, FLS hydro and Lon-oy hydro which have a combined power output of more than 12 megawatts of clean energy being infused to the Luzon grid.
Vicencio disclosed that HEDCOR is saddened by the NCIP-CAR’s decision to shutdown its Bakun hydro operations despite ongoing efforts to come to a dialogue with BITO and the NCIP to thresh out issues and concerns which could be addressed through such means.
“The CDO will not just affect HEDCOR, but also the customers and communities we serve. At this time of a red alert situation in the Luzon grid, the continued operation of our plants is crucial,” Vicencio explained.
In spite the issuance of the CDO, she pointed out that the company will continue to actively reach out to the community for a dialogue or the customary ‘tongtongan’ between concerned company officials and the Bakun indigenous peoples following the established guidelines of the NCIP.
According to her, the company looks forward to continuing to provide the benefits that the Bakun community is currently receiving from the generation of the plants but with the non-operation of the aforesaid plants, this means that the community shares and Energy Regulation (ER) 1-94 funds will neither accrue nor accumulate.
Previously, HEDCOR officials had been trying to reach out to the BITO for a dialogue with its top executives to shed light on various issues and concerns that had been raised by the group in its resolution of non-consent but the schedule of the same had been repeatedly canceled for still unknown reasons.
But company officials are keeping their fingers crossed that there will be a scheduled dialogue between the company and the BITO leaders for issues and concerns to be clarified that would re-establish a harmonious working relationship between the renewable energy company and the ancestral domain owners who want to maximize the benefits derived from the utilization and development of the resources within their ancestral domain.
Earlier, the NCIP-CAR issued a notice of violation to HEDCOR on the FPIC process and the subsequent agreement that was stricken for the purpose of the continued operation of the hydro power plants and was given 10 days to correct the same but the company’s alleged failure to settle the same caused the eventual issuance of the latest CDO. By HENT
