"We Will Not Be a Party to Our Own Death"

Philippine Dam Draws Fire from Indigenous People

by Aviva Imhof

In the mountainous Cordillera region of the Philippines, the indigenous Ibaloi peoples of Itogon Province are fighting for their lives. The threat to their land and livelihoods comes from Southeast Asia’s largest private hydropower project, being built by US independent power producer Sithe Energies and Japanese Marubeni Corporation.

The US$1.19 billion, 345-megawatt San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam Project is being celebrated by the hydropower industry as a major success story in private sector financing. No other private hydro project of its size has been able to secure the necessary financing, particularly in high-risk, economically embattled Southeast Asia. If completed, San Roque would be the tallest dam – at 200 meters – in Asia and will provide power to the burgeoning mining, agribusiness, export industry and tourism centers planned for Northwestern Luzon. The government also claims that the project will irrigate 87,000 hectares of farmland, reduce the perennial flooding of at least 16 downstream towns during the rainy season, and provide clean water for communities in Northern Luzon.

Yet, for the Ibaloi – some of whom have already been displaced once before by hydropower projects further upstream – there is little to rejoice about. The Ibaloi are a distinct tribe, with their own traditional socio-political institutions, traditions and rituals. They rely mainly on agriculture for their everyday subsistence, supplemented by fishing and small-scale gold panning. By working hard, generation after generation of Ibalois have lived in abundance and peace.

Santahnay, the Ibaloi peoples’ community organization, has stated, "We stand for the defense of our ancestral land, for the respect of our indigenous culture, and for the recognition of our right to self-determination as indigenous Ibaloi people… We strongly and resolutely oppose the construction of the San Roque Multipurpose Dam… We are determined to fight against the project to the limits of our own capacity. We will not be a party to our own death."

Project Status and Financing
San Roque is one of 22 large dams planned for the Cordillera region, and is the first one to be built in the region as part of a wide-ranging development plan of former President Fidel Ramos. The dam site is located on the Agno River in Pangasinan Province, but resulting inundation will occur in Itogon Province, home of the Ibaloi people.

In 1997 the National Power Corporation (NPC) gave the San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC) the rights to build, operate and maintain the project for a period of 25 years. The SRPC is owned by a Japanese trading company, Marubeni (41%); Sithe Philippines Holdings, Ltd, a subsidiary of US energy company Sithe Energies, Inc. (51%); and a Japanese utility company, Kansai Electric (7.5%). In April 1998, US construction company Raytheon won a $700 million sub-contract to design and build the facility. Preparation of the site began in 1998, and construction is slated for completion in 2004. The project is currently on hold while financing is being secured.

The total cost is estimated to be $1.19 billion. Project authorities say 49% of the total cost will go to the power component of the project, 9.7% to water quality and maintenance system; and 1% to flood control. In October last year, the Export-Import Bank of Japan (JEXIM) approved a $302 million loan to the private sector developers to finance the power component of the project. Funding for the non-power components is expected to come from a $400 million loan the government is still negotiating with JEXIM. Other financing is expected to come from a consortium of Japanese commercial banks and equity provided by the project sponsors.

JEXIM is reportedly holding off on any loan disbursements until it is satisfied that the project will conform to its environmental and indigenous people’s criteria. JEXIM’s environmental guidelines state that people resettled by projects it funds must have given their consent. Given the strident opposition of the populations slated for resettlement, it appears that JEXIM’s support for this project violates its own guidelines. Japanese and international NGOs, together with the Cordillera People’s Alliance and Santanhay, the Ibaloi’s community organization, have been calling on JEXIM to withdraw from the project. In March this year, an international appeal was delivered to the Japanese Prime Minister, Keizo Obuchi, urging him to withdraw all financial assistance for San Roque. The appeal was signed by 77 citizens’ groups, 12 National Diet members and more than 500 individuals from 26 countries, including more than 450 Ibaloi people. At the time of writing, no response had been received and JEXIM was still indicating it would support the project.

History Repeats Itself

The Ibalois already have experience with large hydro dams – the Binga and Ambuklao dams were built upstream of this site in the 1950s. During that time, the Ibalois were called upon to sacrifice their lands and their lives for the sake of "national development." Though both dams generate electric power, nearby communities have seen few benefits and most still have no electricity. Many of those relocated were never compensated for the loss of their homes, lands and livelihood. Some died in malaria-infested relocation sites, while others suffered from hunger in infertile lands and areas with very limited employment opportunities.

Now, the Ibalois are being asked to "sacrifice for the majority" again. But they are not doing so quietly. In a statement released last year, the Movement Against San Roque Dam and All Megadams (MASRDAM) said the San Roque Dam is not a good development tool for the country, and that "that the majority are being sacrificed for the interests of a few elite." MASRDAM states, "Agrarian reform and secured employment, not megadams, will lead to the country's development."

Said history teacher Lito Calderon, who participated in a recent day of protest against the dam: "Foreign investors and multi-national mining companies stand to benefit more from this project than we do." He added there are many other projects which the government should prioritize, "projects that will really benefit the people."

If completed, the dam will negatively affect 2,325 Ibaloi households. Last February, more than 160 tenant farmer families occupying land around the dam site were moved despite the fact that no permanent resettlement site had yet been built. They were promised land, houses, alternative livelihood sources and social services, but instead the National Power Corporation distributed P10,000 ($250) per family as compensation. Nearly a year later, most of the displaced families were finally given houses in the new resettlement site. Another 402 families in Pangasinan will be required to relocate before the project is completed.

It is estimated that about 100 hectares of productive rice fields will be submerged by the reservoir. Homes, terraced rice fields, orchards, pasture lands, gardens and burial grounds of the Ibalois close to the Agno river will eventually be inundated by the rising of the river. The government claims that only three households will be affected in this area, yet independent studies show that at least 343 households will be impacted by the reservoir.

Aside from those areas to be directly submerged, residents of other higher-lying areas in Benguet may also be displaced because of the accumulation of silt resulting from mining operations upstream. At present, heavy soil erosion and siltation of the river system has already occurred as a result of large open-pit and bulk mining operations in Itogon. With the passage of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, more large mining companies have applied for concessions in the area. If these applications are approved, the siltation of the Agno River will increase tremendously.

Given the high rates of siltation and erosion resulting from the present mining operations, the economic life span of the San Roque Dam is already under question. It is doubtful the dam reservoir will be able to contain the volume of mine tailings, soil and silt that will be impounded there beyond 28 years.

Furthermore, while the government claims that the project will control the occurrence of floods on the Agno River, the project's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) admits that "the reservoir is vulnerable to mismanagement with respect to flood routing." The EIA states that this may result in "catastrophic flooding" in some downstream areas. There is local precedent for this: the Ambuklao Dam has caused larger and more serious floods downstream over the past few years as its reservoir has silted up. The dam is non-functional today due to siltation.

It is not just individuals or families who will be affected by the project. Whole communities will be uprooted. The Ibalois of Dalupirip, like those of Binga and Ambuklao, will end up scattered in different places. And with their disintegration, the dissolution of their indigenous socio-political institutions will follow. Their traditional knowledge, beliefs and systems will break down. Dalupirip, and a whole unique culture, will be lost forever.