The proposed San Roque Dam would be located on the Agno River in the
mountainous Cordillera region of Luzon island in the Philippines. If
completed, San Roque would be the tallest dam and largest private
hydropower project in Asia, costing US$1.19 billion and generating 345 MW
of power. Preparation of the site began in 1998, and construction is slated
for completion in 2004.
The San Roque Power Corporation is owned by a consortium of Japanese and US
companies, include Sithe Energies of the US and Marubeni of Japan. In
October 1998, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) approved
a $302 million loan to the private sector developers, and lent an
additional $400 million to the National Power Corporation in September
1999. However, due to public pressure in Japan and evidence that it may
have breached its own guidelines, JBIC has not yet disbursed all of its
loans for the project.
Already, more than 600 families have been evicted to make way for the dam.
Many are struggling to survive in cramped quarters in a resettlement site,
without any land to sustain them. The lives of another 200 famlies are
being disrupted by excavation for the dam. They, too, will be forced from
their lands.
The project is fiercely opposed by thousands of indigenous Ibaloi peoples
upstream of the dam site. The Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance estimates that
if the dam is built, more than 35,000 indigenous people living upstream
could be adversely affected by the project. IRN is working with the CPA and
the Ibaloi community organization, the Shalupirip Santahnay Indigenous
People’s Movement, to discourage JBIC investment in the project.
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calls on Philippine President to stop
the San Roque Dam operation and to resolve all outstanding issues.
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05–11–03 |
Dams in the Cordillera
The River Systems of the Cordillera and their Watersheds, background paper
prepared by the Cordillera People’s Alliance. |
12–14–02 |
NGOs call for JBIC to cancel
financing given the violations of Philippine law and OECD guidelines. |
09–12–02 |
From the Philippine
Star, July 5, 2002 |
07–05–02 |
Statement from the
Itogon Inter–Barangay Alliance to the National Commission on Indigenous
Peoples, April 16, 2002. |
04–16–02 |
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