'Clark golf course project threatens water supply'

ANGELES CITY, Philippines  – An environmentalist group warned yesterday that the development of a $400-million golf course that involved mowing down a hill at the Clark Freeport would eventually dry up the water supply of residents here and in neighboring Mabalacat.

“The water supply at the Metro Clark area is threatened by the 36-hole golf course of Donggwang Clark Corp. because the site is a watershed area,” said Sonny Dobles, president of the Alliance for the Development of Central Luzon.   

He recalled that five years ago, the Pampanga Association of Water Districts submitted a resolution to the Clark Development Corp., the state firm that runs the Clark Freeport, calling for a moratorium on the construction of more “water-hungry” golf courses at the Freeport.

“What is more disturbing about the Donggwang project is that water security for the area is now in clear and present danger,” he said.

This, amid reports that the Balibago Water District, which supplies potable water to thousands of households in Angeles City and Mabalacat, is already experiencing water shortage from local aquifers.

Even the town of Magalang is threatened, Dobles said.

“The area where the golf course is being developed is a watershed. Worse, it’s a head watershed that flows into two major rivers in the affected areas,” he added.