TransCo president Alan T. Ortiz said they signed last week multipartite agreements with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and two indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) in Cagayan de Oro to formally resolve issues raised by indigenous groups seen to be affected by the Abaga-Kirahon-Maramag-Bunawan 230-kilovolt transmission project.
The TransCo chief said the signing of the agreements will pave the way for NCIP’s issuance of a Certification Precondition, which will allow Mindanao’s biggest power transmission project to traverse approximately 45 kilometers of ancestral domain areas.
Ortiz said the 663 circuit-kilometer project will not only ensure that the momentum of Mindanao’s industrial development would be sustained but will also guarantee that indigenous communities will also get their rightful share of economic development.
"This is a partnership that will last forever. This is a sign of TransCo’s respect for tribal communities in Mindanao. Nobody should be left behind in Mindanao’s march toward economic and industrial development. TransCo is committed to see to it that our indigenous communities will also reap the benefits of this project. We are very thankful for their support," Ortiz said.
As stipulated in the agreements, TransCo shall provide financial assistance for community development projects of affected tribal communities, avail of their services for line clearing works, give them employment priority, and grant compensation for property damages, among others.
The tribal councils, on the other hand, shall give their full consent to TransCo to manage, administer, regulate and undertake the construction and operation and maintenance of the multi-billion peso transmission line project. They shall also comply with TransCo’s policy and security regulations.
NCIP, for its part, shall see to it that the agreements are respected and implemented.
The Abaga-Kirahon-Maramag-Bunawan project is part of TransCo’s Mindanao Transmission Augmentation Program (MINTA) approved by the National Economic and Development Authority in March 2006.
Approved for funding by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the project will begin construction phase this October.
The project is expected to enhance the security of TransCo’s transmission system and will ensure stable and reliable power delivery from the Agus and Pulangi hydroelectric power plants and the soon to-be-completed 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.
Ortiz said the uprating of transmission infrastructures is only half of the solution to the power challenge in Mindanao.
"We are ensuring that lines are in place and optimally working to deliver the growing power demand of the region but we also need to tackle the issue of generation. TransCo’s proposed Leyte-Mindanao interconnection system is expected to deliver the additional capacity which will be tapped from the geothermal field in Cabalian," he said.