TUBA, Benguet – Concerned indigenous peoples (IPs) raised alarm on the reported conduct of a multi-billion peso feasibility study of the city-owned Asin minihydro power plants that will undertaken by interested proponents as this did not pass through the mandatory free and prior informed consent (FPIC) process pursuant to the provisions of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) because the municipality is an ancestral domain.
Junar Paloma, president of the Tadiangan Indigenous Peoples Community Organization (TIPCO), expressed surprise on earlier reports that the municipal council passed a resolution interposing no objection to the proposed conduct of a feasibility by certain power generation companies on the city-owned Asin minihydro power plants without the consent from the ancestral domain owners.
He admitted that there were some representatives of the proponents and Baguio City officials who visited their barangay once to dialogue with the barangay officials and their organization but this was never repeated aside from the fact that they never gave their consent to the proposed conduct of the said feasibility study, being part of the directly affected communities.
The IPO official disclosed that only Nangalisan gave its consent for the said feasibility study but the same should not be used as a blanket endorsement by other directly affected communities that did not give their consent to allow the study to push through as the same will be in gross violation of the IPRA.
According to him, the conduct of a single dialogue without any agreement reached by the concerned parties is not sufficient to justify the issuance of the resolution by the municipal council interposing no objection to the conduct of the feasibility study for the Asin minihydro power plants because the same is obviously against the pertinent provisions of the IPRA.
Under the provisions of RA 8371 or the IPRA, companies intending to exploit, develop and utilize the resources within the ancestral domain of ICCs and IPs must first secure the free and prior informed consent by the ancestral domain holders.
In 2006, the Baguio City government took over the operation of the Asin minihydro power plants after the lapse of the 25-year contract with the Hydroelectric Development Corporation (HEDCOR) where it was able to operate the same for several years.
However, In October 2012, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued a cease and desist order that directed the Baguio City government to stop the operation of the power plants until such time that it is able to secure the required certificate of compliance of the plants from the regulatory agency.
Subsequently the city bid out the rehabilitation and upgrading of the said powerplants where it was awarded to Kaltimex Energy Philippines in 2015 although the memorandum of agreement was confirmed by the local legislative body in 2017.
For its failure to comply with its obligations under the said contract, the city eventually rescinded the agreement that paved the way for other companies to make the necessary offers for the rehabilitation and upgrading of the hydro power plants but there should be a feasibility study first for this to ascertain the magnitude of improvement that will be undertaken to make the plants fully operational.