CAR wants Luzon provinces to pay water fee

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) wants to collect fees from several provincial governments in Luzon that use water coming from the Cordilleras.

The proposal will be taken up in a meeting of the regional development councils (RDC) in Northern Luzon next week, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Milagros Rimando, director of NEDA-CAR and RDC vice chairman, said the tax, described as an environment fee, would be imposed on the provinces located in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon regions, which tap water from CAR for irrigation and domestic use.

The headwaters of the Magat Dam, which irrigates the Isabela plains, and the San Roque Dam, which waters 80,000 hectares of rice farms in Pangasinan, all come from CAR.

The Binga and Ambuklao dams in Itogon, Benguet generate power for the Northern Luzon grid of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

“They are benefiting from our watersheds and yet we don’t get anything from them in return,” Rimando said.

Former senator Heherson Alvarez suggested in a recent conference the need for the Northern Luzon regions to protect the environment and natural resources of the Cordilleras.

Alvarez said while the lowland communities are assured of a steady water supply from CAR, the Cordillerans get no help in addressing environmental problems such as forest degradation.

Rimando expressed hope the three regions would accept the environmental fee proposal although she expects opposition during discussion.