Protests were organized across the Pacific region after Japan started releasing treated water from the decommissioned Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.
In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami resulted in a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which contaminated the groundwater with radioactive materials. This water has been collected, treated, and stored onsite since 2011.
Since 2021, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been preparing the infrastructure for the “safe” release of Fukushima’s treated water through a process called the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS). The Japanese government has approved the plan but various stakeholders raised alarm about its impact not just in Japan but also in the Pacific region.
During the initial stages of sea discharge, a very small amount will be carefully discharged using a two-step process.
Firstly, as Stage 1 of the initial discharge of ALPS treated water, today, a very small amount of ALPS treated water will be diluted with seawater and stored in the vertical discharge shaft (upstream water tank) in order to verify that ALPS treated water is being diluted as planned. After this stored water has been sampled and tritium concentrations measured, we will move on to Stage 2, continuous discharge into the sea on and after August 24.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been monitoring the preparation of TEPCO and it released a report noting the “negligible” impact of the treated water on the environment.
IAEA concluded that Japan’s approach and activities to discharge ALPS-treated water are consistent with relevant international safety standards. The report noted that the controlled, gradual discharges of the treated water to the sea, as currently planned and assessed by TEPCO, would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.
The Pacific Islands Forum, the official group of Pacific governments, said that it will continue its engagement with Japan for more information and transparency, although it is divided on whether it will support or reject the release of treated water.
But for Pacific environment groups, the dumping of treated water is tantamount to destroying marine life and the future of the region. Justice Pacific’s statement reflects this popular sentiment among non-government organizations:
The implications of Japan’s decision to dispose of nuclear waste water in such a manner are far-reaching and potentially catastrophic. It not only poses a severe threat to marine life and ecosystems but also raises serious concerns about the health and safety of Pacific communities that depend on these waters for their livelihoods and sustenance.
In Fiji, hundreds of residents took to the streets to denounce Japan’s dumping of treated water into the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Feminist Community of Practice warned about potential radiation exposure:
Japan’s actions in releasing radioactive waste water from the #Fukushima nuclear disaster into the #Pacific ocean is adding to intergenerational burdens for our region. The science is in, no matter what this violent and poisonous industry says. There is no safe dose of radiation.
During the protest, community leaders mentioned the painful experience of Pacific islands which became nuclear testing grounds of developed countries like the United States and France for several decades. The same communities face heightened risk linked to the harsh impact of climate change. The threat posed by any potential disastrous impact caused by the discharge of treated water from Fukushima exacerbates the suffering of these communities.
Participants in the protests also shouted slogans inspired by the anti-nuclear movement in the region like this one: “If it is safe, dump it in Tokyo! If it is safe, test it in Paris! If it is safe, store it in Washington! But keep our Pacific nuclear free!”
Strength in numbers.
Yesterday we exercised our civic responsibility and right to express our concerns about Japan’s decision to start discharging treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. We have always advocated for a #CleanPacific and will do until our last breathe pic.twitter.com/vO8FL1nAar
— Pacific Ocean Litter Youth Project (@POLYPFIJI) August 25, 2023
Dr. Marco de Jong, a Sāmoan New Zealander and Pacific historian, spoke to Teuila Fuatai and discussed how science is being used to silence the voices of dissent in the Pacific.
To suggest that Pacific people are approaching this unscientifically is a supreme form of colonial gaslighting that diminishes our collective rights, our rights to self-determination, and our proper concern for intergenerational impacts. It’s simply untrue and leans into racist stereotypes — that as Pacific people, we’re not capable of understanding complex issues. When, really, we know our rights and we know that this is a transboundary harm issue.
If you have Pacific social or economic privilege and power, use it for good. Don't leave this to others.
Protests have been reported too, in Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Meanwhile, China has banned the importation of seafood from some prefectures in Japan. #
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https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/dump.jpeg6751200Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-08-28 10:01:382023-08-28 10:02:22‘Stop the dump’: Pacific communities protest Japan’s release of treated nuclear water
Various groups said government’s suspension of Manila Bay reclamation activities must be total and demanded the order should apply as well to the one project being allowed to continue.
Fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said that while it sees the order as positive, the government should scrap all permits issued related to the projects.
“To make President Marcos’ statement concrete, the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) must review the 21 environmental compliance certificates of the reclamation in Manila Bay,” Pamalakaya vice chairperson Ronnel Arambulo said.
Scientists of the group AGHAM – Advocates of Science and Technology for the People also demanded the suspension of the remaining project as it called for transparency on which projects were suspended.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced last Monday that his government has suspended all but one of reclamation projects to allow the (DENR) to conduct a cumulative impact assessment.
“All were suspended. The reclamation (projects) are all under review,” the president said in a briefing on the flooding in Bulacan last Monday.
“One however was not suspended because it already underwent a review. There are many problems. We saw many things that point to bad management,” he added.
The President did not name the remaining unsuspended project.
Marcos had recently been attending public consultations in Central Luzon following devastating floods in Pampanga and Bulacan provinces in previous weeks.
Residents and officials complained to the President that floodwaters now linger far longer than they used to.
Reclamation to blame?
Groups opposing reclamation projects said these impede waters from rivers draining into the 1,994-square-kilometer Manila Bay.
The Philippine Reclamation Authority said it received 25 reclamation proposals for Manila Bay as of 2022 and had approved six.
Kodao research found out that local government units are listed as co-developers in several projects, along with private companies.
The City of Manila has 1,342 hectares, Navotas City has 650 hectare, while Pasay City has 265 hectares in reclamation projects in partnership with such private companies as SM Prime, Goldcoast, JBROS Construction, Waterfront, Pasay Harbor City, and others.
Waterfront is owned by the Gatchalian family who are politically allied with the Marcoses.
(Pinoy Weekly photo)
Exacting accountability
DENR secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said individual projects were processed without taking into consideration all their cumulative impacts.
“This is actually critical for future use,” she said.
Yulo-Loyzaga added that the DENR is authorized to review or modify reclamation contracts.
“Until we get a very good sense of what scientifically is going to happen in this area and until we can get a good sense of how the rule of law can be followed in this area, we want to proceed with much caution,” she said.
The environment secretary also said the reclamation projects impede government’s duty to preserve Manila Bay and to uphold their mandate under the Supreme Court’s writ of continuing mandamus issued in 2008.
Pamalakaya said that the companies undertaking the reclamation projects must be held accountable and ordered to rehabilitate destroyed mangrove areas.
The group also demanded that the 300 families displaced by reclamation projects should be allowed to go back to their communities.
Manila Bay should be declared a reclamation-free zone, Pamalakaya said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/mb.jpg626906Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-08-10 08:58:272023-08-10 08:58:29Groups demand scrapping of all Manila Bay reclamation projects
The year-old Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government continues to implement anti-environment projects that cause displacement and other disastrous impacts of climate change, an environmental group told the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) said large-scale mining, land reclamation and large dams being implemented under the Marcos government are causing ecological imbalance, weakening climate resilience in the Philippines.
In an interactive dialogue, CEC executive director Lia Mai Torres reported that such projects and policies are still in place despite the Philippine government’s declarations supportive of global climate change mitigation programs.
“Aside from the continuation of climate risk projects, Filipino environmental human rights defenders are not optimistic about the prospects of genuine climate action based on the principles of climate justice in the remaining five years of the Marcos Jr. administration, given the 12 cases of killings of environmental advocates and climate activists that have already occurred,” Torres said.
CEC’s intervention in the dialogue highlighted that “while important, addressing climate displacement should not preclude addressing the issues and vulnerabilities that cause displacement and other disastrous impacts of climate change.”
CEC reported that a Philippine government representative in the dialogue said that the Philippines’ disaster risk reduction and management favors interventions related to disaster displacement that are respectful of human rights.
CEC however belied the assertion, pointing out that there are no existing policy instruments in the Philippines, like many countries, that directly address climate change-induced migration.
“We are ill-equipped and poorly prepared to face internal migrations and disruptions due to climate change, much less the possible influx of climate refugees from neighboring countries.”
The dialogue entitled “Providing legal options to protect the human rights of persons displaced across international borders due to climate change” had UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change Ian Fry and Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions Morris Tindall-Binz in attendance.
The dialogue was an event in the ongoing 53rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council at the Palais des Nations in the Swiss city.
A report presented at the dialogue said that 38 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes in 2021 while 22.3 million people were displaced by weather-related events in the same year.
Among the conclusions of the dialogue was that “the Paris Agreement should develop funding arrangements to assist persons displaced across international borders due to climate change to address their vulnerabilities.”
The CEC called on fellow Filipinos and the international community to keep a watchful eye on the Marcos Jr. administration and continue ensuring ecological balance is achieved by preventing environmentally damaging and destructive activities.
“[The Philippines must be] gearing away from false climate solutions, shifting away from the neoliberal model that facilitates the hyper-extraction by foreign interests of our natural resources, and addressing systematic inequality and poverty that strips away our capacity to adapt to climate disasters,” Torres said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/cec.jpg5241020Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-07-05 10:55:432023-07-05 10:55:44Environmental group reports PH gov’t not acting on anti-climate change commitments
A network of residents, fisher folk, youth, civil society, people’s organization, faith-based and multi-sectoral groups trooped to the House of Representative on Monday, May 29, to decry the inaction of the government on holding the RDC Reield Marine Services (RDC) and San Miguel Corporation (SMC) accountable for the oil spill near Mindoro island.
The Protect Verde Island Passage (Protect VIP) network also called RDC, owner of the sunken vessel MT Princess Empress, and the vessel’s charterer SMC-subdiary SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corporation as “environment polluters”.
SMC’s high-profile president and chief executive officer Ramon Ang earlier revealed his company is among the customers of MT Princess Empress.
“This national disaster has been going on for three long months, but we fear that it is still not being treated as one. While government dilly-dallies in exacting accountability and justice, the damage to Verde Island Passage’s ecosystem and resulting impacts on stakeholders continue to worsen. Companies responsible for this must be punished,” Protect VIP lead convenor Fr. Edwin Gariguez said.
Protect VIP was in House of Representatives to attend the joint hearing of the Committees on Ecology and Natural Resources and registered their disappointment for the lack of sanctions for RDC and SMC and the urgency of assistance to the affected sectors.
“It is not only oil that continues to leak into VIP but also our culture of impunity. I stand here as one with my hometown of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, one of the hard-hit towns by the oil spiil and fishing bans, in demanding that RDC and SMC be held liable for their actions,’ said Leody de Guzman of Partido Lakas ng Masa.
“For 90 days, they managed to evade any form of accountability. They don’t even have the courtesy of properly showing their faces in Congress hearings while fisher folk representatives travel far and long to attend. Mahiya naman kayo, RDC at SMC,” de Guzman added. (Have you no shame, RDC and SMC?)
Meanwhile, the Southern Tagalog Serve the People Corps (STPC) reiterated the call for justice on the people and on the devastating impact on the environment of the oil spill in the island of Mindoro.
Specifically, the organization holds the RDC responsible for the catastrophe brought about by the oil spill when MT Princess Empress sank off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro last February 28.
The provinces of Batangas and Palawan as well as the Western Visayas region were affected by the spill with damages to the livelihood and environment estimated at around P7 billion in the last three months.
“Nananawagan ang STPC sa MARINA, PCG at iba pang ahensya ng gobyerno na suportahan ang mga mamamayan sa pagkaso laban sa may-ari ng barko. Sa loob ng tatlong buwan, tila walang balak ang RDC Reield Marine Services na managot dahil isang beses lamang ito sumipot sa patawag na inquiry ng kongreso,” the group’s statement said.
(STPC is calling the attention of MARINA, PCG and other government agencies to support the people in filing a case against the owner of ship. In three months, RDC Reield Marine Services seemed to abandon its responsibility because it did not attend to the congressional inquiry.)
“Hindi naramdaman ng mga mamamayan ang kompensasyon at pag-ako ng responsibilidad ng RDC Reield Marine Services sa sakunang idinulot nila kahit pa naririyan ang RA 9483 o Oil Pollution Compensation Act at iba pang batas pangkalikasan,” it added.
(The people do not see compensation and responsibility coming from RDC Reield Marine Services despite the existence of RA 9483 or Oil Pollution Compensation Act and other environmental laws.)
Department of Defense senior undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. announced on Friday that the national government has cleaned up over 84% of the coastline affected by the oil spill in Mindoro as of May 10 and a siphoning vessel from Singapore is expected to arrive by the end of the month to remove the remaining oil inside the sunken vessel.
Oil removal operations are set to begin in the first week of June, which is estimated to last for 30 days, Galvez added.
The arrival of vessel has been confirmed by Gov. Humerlito “Bonz” Dolor.
Dolor also announced last May 28 the lifting of the fishing ban on most municipalities except for the municipalities of Naujan, Pola and Pinamalayan.
Emergency Cash Transfer will be given starting June 1 amounting to P12,000.00 for fisher folk with boats registered with Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
Despite announcements of additional support to affected families, STPC said it demands more assistance and alternative livelihood for the victims.
The group also joined the call for more accountability from RDC Reield Marine Services.
Around 6,874 familes from 26 affected barangay in six Oriental Mindoro municipalities has filed for compensation claims. #
A Filipino renewable energy program won a prestigious international award for indigenous peoples given by a United Nations (UN) agency in Rome, Italy on Thursday, February 9.
SIBAT is honored for bringing electricity to 1,684 indigenous households in the Cordillera region through community-managed hydroelectric power generation systems.
An indigenous livelihood protection project in Bolivia and an agro-forestry for children’s food security initiative in Cameroon were also honored by the UN special agency in its forum themed “Indigenous Peoples’ Climate Leadership: Community-based solutions to enhance resilience and biodiversity.”
IFAD said SIBAT’s CBRES project has brought clean energy to homes, schools, and health facilities across the mountainous region in northern Philippines as well as fostering rural businesses, like rice and corn mills that help build livelihoods and food security while being sustainable.
“The project is designed using the principles of free, prior and informed consent through which indigenous peoples participate fully and effectively in decision-making processes that affect them. It brings together communities to oversee and operate the power system and set tariffs collectively. Older community members and persons with disabilities oversee and guide the project according to customary laws,” IFAD said.
An indigenous community setting up its micro-hydro power plant with the help of SIBAT. (SIBAT photo)
Indigenous development worker
Present to receive the award is SIBAT technician Glendo Gayed, himself an indigenous person of the Banao tribe of Malibcong, Abra.
“I saw the difficulty of not having electricity in many areas. That is why I took the job as a technician at SIBAT: to help provide electricity in remote communities,” Gayed said.
He explained that through the project, indigenous peoples in the Cordilleras are adapting and building resilience to climate change, while conserving the watersheds, rivers and waterfalls of their ancestral domain.
“The thing I like most about SIBAT is that we don’t only provide electricity; we help the environment,” Gayed said.
SIBAT executive director Estrella Catarata, also in Rome for the forum and awarding ceremony, said there are 15 micro-hydro power systems in operation under their CBRES program that either operate 24/7 or eight to 12 hours daily in the minimum.
The systems also operate 15 rice mills, a corn mill and several sugar cane processing machines in most of the communities they assist.
Catarata said a key factor in their program’s success is their strong partnership with indigenous peoples communities and local people’s organizations.
Catarata added that their adherence to project principles such as ecological soundness and environmental sustainability, community ownership and collective management, social justice and environmental stewardship, scientific and innovative collaborations, viability and sustainability as well as gender and cultural sensitivity sustain the program.
“We thank the IFAD for this recognition as we continue to commit ourselves to contribute in the overall efforts at mitigating the impact of the global climate change crisis we are facing today,” Catarata said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IFAD.jpg15362048Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-02-13 11:57:112023-02-13 11:57:13Pinoy NGO wins big in global indigenous peoples’ award
Dalawampung taon nang may kuryente ang isang malayong komunidad sa hilagang Kordilyera galing sa malinis at sustenableng teknolohiya. Panoorin ang isang nakamamanghang tagumpay mula sa determinasyon, pagkaka-isa at pagtutulungan ng isang pamayanan at kanilang mga kaibigan.
(Bidyo-dokumentaryo nina Raymund B. Villanueva at Jek B. Alcaraz sa tulong ng Jose Jaime Espina Klima Correspondents Fellowship. Alay sa alaala ni Jose Jaime “Nonoy” Espina, matapang na dating tagapangulo ng National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.)
Chad Booc was honored for his unwavering defense of the Lumad rights to their ancestral land and to their environment
A slain Lumad school volunteer teacher led the list of winners in the 2022 Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan Awards given by the group Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) last Wednesday, December 28.
Chad Errol Booc, killed along with four others by the Philippine military last February 24, was named most distinguished awardee in the seventh edition of the awards.
CEC said Booc was chosen for his unwavering defense of the Lumad rights to their ancestral [land] and to their environment.
Booc also contributed substantially to the creation of viable and sustainable models of education and food production of the indigenous peoples’ groups he served, the group said.
Despite being threatened, red-tagged and ceaselessly harassed, Booc persisted in his work, helping create a map of mining tenements in the Lumad territories using data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, information from indigenous peoples and his own research in the Surigao provinces in Mindanao.
The military said Booc and his companions were New People’s Army (NPA) rebels who died in a 15-minute firefight in New Bataan, Davao de Oro.
Booc’s organization Save Our Schools Network however said the casualties were massacred, victims of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ usual canard of reporting armed encounters with rebel groups when it has killed civilians or NPA hors de combat.
A cum laude Computer Science graduate of the University of the Philippines, Booc dedicated his life to becoming a volunteer teacher for Lumad students, later becoming the most ardent campaigner for the indigenous peoples’ right to education when the Manila government has started closing their schools down as part of its counter-insurgency campaign.
Dangerous country for environmental defenders
Quoting a 2019 Institute for Economics and Peace report, the CEC said the Philippines has become the country most at risk from the climate crisis made worse by destructive projects.
The threat of biodiversity loss, deforestation and unsustainable development path also comes with the killing of at least 300 environmental defenders in the last decade, the group said.
The CEC said that Filipino environmental defenders persist
in their outsized role in protecting the environment, successfully halting at least 11 % of environmentally-destructive projects.
“Still, their role is often overlooked by governments and international organizations when they discuss potential solutions to the climate and ecological crisis,” CEC bewailed.
“[I]t was only in 2019 that the United Nations formally recognized their role in environmental protection,” it added.
The CEC said its biennial Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan (Hero of the Environment Award) seeks to highlight and reinforce the efforts of environmental defenders who are ordinary people, grassroots organizations as well as communities.
Distinguished list of awardees
Aside from Booc, the 7th staging of the awards included three other individual and three organizational awardees.
Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, advocate of the role of Filipino scientists in creating evidence-based government policies on environmentally-critical projects, is one of the Gawad sa Indibidwal (Award to Individual) recipients.
Using well-researched arguments, Dr. Rodolfo has opposed the operation of the controversial Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, the Manila Bay reclamation projects and the Laguna Lake Expressway Dike project.
Daniel Jason Maches is the second Gawad sa Indibidwal awardee, recognized for his defense of Barlig, Mountain Province’s forest as well as his campaign to preserve his Lias tribe’s culture.
His active opposition to the suspension of a road project that would have opened up the Barlig forests to reckless exploitation exposed him to attacks and red-tagging, the CEC said.
Aside from defending the environment and their culture, Maches has also successfully started an environmentally-sustainable agro-ecology coffee farm that is naturally integrated with the forest, the group added.
Controversial 69-year old campaigner Vertidez “Daisy” Macapanpan is the third individual honoree who made headlines after being violently and illegally arrested by at least 40 police officers, including members of an elite unit last June.
Lovingly called “Mother Nature” by the people of her hometown Pakil, Laguna, Macapanpan leads the campaign against the proposed 1400 megawatt Ahunan Pumped-Storage Hydropower Plant Project.
Opponents of the project said the project threatens the fragile ecosystem in the area as well as the people’s way of life that is dependent on the water supply provided by the nearby mountain range.
A group of fisher folk is this year’s first Gawad sa Organisasyon (Award to Organization) honoree opposed to the New Manila International Airport construction that has destroyed fishing grounds and mangrove forests in Bulacan province.
The Samahan ng Mangingisda at Mamamayan sa Latian ng Bulacan campaigns against the massive land reclamation connected with the new airport project, saying it has displace more than 700 fishing and urban poor families in the area.
The group also said the construction project may lead to an immeasurable destruction of marine and aquatic resources of Manila Bay.
The Masungi Georeserve Foundation is this year’s second organizational awardee, capturing the spotlight for leading the reforestation and defense of the watershed in Rizal province for years.
Foundation trustees Ann and Billie Dumaliang and co-workers have also been victims of threats from the perpetrators of illegal logging, land grabbing and large-scale quarrying in the area.
The last awardee in this year’s Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan is the organization called the Tumandok nga Mangunguma nga Nagapangapin kay Kabuhi based in the mountainous areas of Panay Island in the Visayas.
Made up of indigenous people called the Tumandok, it opposes encroachments that pose dangers to the fragile ecosystem in their ancestral domain that sprawls over two protected areas: the Jalaur River and Pan-ay River watershed forest reserves.
The group has led the Tumandok people’s resistance to the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project that threatens to inundate their land, destroy local habitats, deprive ecosystems of nutrients, release greenhouse gasses, increase wastewater and may even trigger seismicity, the CEC said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
The Diocese of San Pablo declared its support to a campaign opposing the construction of hydropower plant in the old and historic town of Pakil located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range in Laguna.
Pakil’s Dambana ng Mahal na Birhen ng Turumba Facebook page announced earlier this week that San Pablo Bishop Buenaventura Famadico has joined the popular opposition to the proposed Ahuhan Dam Project.
“The Diocese of San Pablo supports the opposition by the citizens who love Pakil of the Ahuman Storage Hydroelectic Power Project,” the announcement reads in Filipino.
The Diocese also echoed the fears of residents against possible impacts on the local environment as well as on the people’s livelihood and way of life.
Bishop Famadico stressed the people’s right to a balanced and sound ecology and the people’s moral duty to uphold and advance this right in behalf of the voiceless and future generations.
The prelate said it is God’s call to safeguard and prevent the destruction of His creation.
The $1.1 billion Ahunan hydropower plant project is proposed to be constructed atop Pakil and along the Sierra Madre Mountain.
Project proponent Ahunan Power, Inc., is co-owned by billionaire Enrique K. Razon.
Ahunan however is facing stiff resistance from Pakil residents who cite negative social, cultural and ecological impacts posed by the project.
Pakilenos led by the local group Mamamayang Nagmamahal sa Pakil (MANAPAK) has earlier compelled the Pakil municipal council to revoke its no objection certification to the project, citing irregularities in the public consultation proceedings.
Aside from winning the Roman Catholic Church’s support, dam oppositionists also won over more groups to its campaign.
The newly-formed Network Opposed To Ahunan Dam (NO To Ahunan Dam), composed of at least 40 organizations and individuals that include environmentalists, church workers, student councils and other concerned citizens, signed a manifesto opposing the dam’s construction.
“The Ahunan Dam will only cause widespread environmental destruction, not just in Pakil but across both the Sierra Madre mountain range and Laguna Lake,” NO to Ahunan Dam spokesperson Joe Tlibas said.
“Worse, this destruction will come because the rich want to get richer,” Tlibas added.
The manifesto was released last September 26 in time for the celebration of the 10th Save Sierra Madre Day. #
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Photo_Devotees-of-Nuestra-Senora-de-los-Dolores-de-Turumba-march-past-an-anti-Ahunan-Dam-banner-in-Pakil-Laguna-1.jpg9601440Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-10-07 08:57:142022-10-07 09:08:31Church, other groups join campaign vs Ahunan Dam
A video-documentary by PonD News Asia/Elmer Nev C. Valenzuela
[Contributed to Kodao Productions]
This video documents the people of Pakil, Laguna’s objection to the Ahunan Hydropower Project they fear would destroy their beloved mountains, adversely affect their culture and endanger their lives.
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/pakil.jpg7551096Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-09-25 15:47:552022-09-25 15:54:23PAKIL SPRINGS: The Rise Against Ahunan Dam
Townsfolk fear loss of ‘nurturing, healing spring water’ from nearby mountains
By Elmer Nev C. Valenzuela
PAKIL, Laguna — Residents of this small Southern Tagalog town oppose a hydropower plant project they fear may endanger the supply of clean spring water that has always nurtured their community.
Pakileños have formed an organization to oppose the $1.1 billion Ahunan Hydropower Project they say poses a great threat to their community by potentially altering their water supply of natural spring water from the Sierra Madre or may totally stop their flow.
Mamamayan Nagmamahal sa Pakil (MANAPAK) members in a meeting.
Calling itself the Mamamayan Nagmamahal sa Pakil (MANAPAK), the group demands a stop to all fieldworks on their mountains, particularly near Mt. Ping-as, traditionally regarded as sacred by Pakileños.
A joint venture of billionaire Enrique Razon’s Prime Metro Power Holdings Corp. and JBD Water Power Inc., the Ahunan project aims to generate 1400 megawatts of electricity for the Luzon grid.
Estimated to affect 299 hectares in four Pakil barangays—Baño, Burgos, Rizal and Taft—the project requires the construction of an upper basin to serve as reservoir for power generation.
Town of healing water
Located at the mountainous part of Laguna province, Pakil and its neighboring towns on the east bank of Laguna de Bay are blessed with free-flowing spring water residents have enjoyed as drinking water and for irrigation for as long as they remember.
In the town’s famous public bathing pools, such as the old Turumba Spring, the waters are appreciated for their reputed healing properties and have become pilgrimage sites of sorts.
Pakil’s famous public pool from spring water sources.
Resident Melquiades de Cadiz said they are starting to see signs of water disruption since Ahunan hydropower project pre-construction activities have started upstream.
He said further degradation of water quality is imminent should the earthworks continue.
Cadiz added the project’s other socio-cultural and environmental impacts may include the destruction of the town’s mountain, displacement of affected families, desiccation of spring water, as well as damage to cultural and religious sites and heritage.
MANAPAK member Nora Macapanpan said they are concerned that the Ahunan dam is to be built along a stretch of four active fault lines in the area that are characterized by authorities to have moderate to high seismicity.
Macapanpan’s group also warned of agricultural impacts, floods, landslides as other potential risks posed by the project.
“Marami pa ang mga panganib na kaakibat ng proyekto, tulad ng pagbaha at pagguho ng lupa. Maapektuhan din ang mga magsasaka at mangingisda, ang Turumba sa Birhen, at ang ating tubig inumin,” MANAPAK official Teresa ‘Ka Tessie’ Sanchez added.
(There are more dangers connected with the project, such as flooding and landslide. The farmers and the fisher folk, the spring pool, and our drinking water.)
Ka Tessie appealed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for support and to deny the permits the project proponents seek to be able to move on to the next phases of the project.
Posters opposing the hydropower project in Pakil.
Initial victory
Pakil’s Municipal Council has issued a “No Objection Resolution” to the Ahunan project last September 14, however, a vital first step leading to the issuance of the prerequisite Environmental Compliance Certificate.
Ka Tessie says they were unaware the resolution was being discussed. She said they were shocked to learn of it only last March, five months after its approval.
“Talagang parang, ano na pala ito, tuloy na! Sabi ko, ay kailangan na eh tumayo,” she said.
(It seems the project is really to be implemented. I said, it is time to stand up.)
MANAPAK has since gathered six thousand signatures from fellow Pakileños and engaged the Municipal Council in a series of dialogues.
Citing the dam proponents’ poor consultation with the town’s various stakeholders, the Council has revoked its No Objection Resolution last August 9.
Salamat naman sa Diyos at pagka tumayo ka sa isang bagay na ang paniwala mo ay mabuti, talagang laging may sumusunod, tumatayo din kasama mo,” Ka Tessie said.
(Thanks to God. When one stands up for something she believes is good, others will follow.) #
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/pakil.jpg7551096Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-09-07 14:41:232022-09-07 14:43:18Pakil residents protest construction of hydropower plant
