Indigenous people protest Iloilo dam project

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — At least 60 indigenous people (IPs), who are members of TUMANDUK (Indigenous Farmers in Defense of Land and Life), went down from their ancestral lands in the mountains, and then travelled for five hours to hold a protest rally at the National Irrigation Administration-Region 6 office in this city.

The IPs, who came from Tapaz town in Capiz and Calinog town in Iloilo, protested against the construction of a mega-dam, known as the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project II. They were joined by the members of Panay and Guimaras wide peasant alliance PAMANGGAS, women group Gabriela, and urban poor settlers Kadamay.

The opposition to the project arose after the IPs learned that the dam will cause their lands to submerge in water, leaving them without lands and houses.

Reynaldo Giganto, a TUMANDUK  council member, said, “We do not need the dam. What will be left of us when our areas were already submerged in waters? Where do we live? What will we plant on waters? And how do we live when our life, culture and livelihood are already gone?”

Lea Provido, one of the IPs from Calinog, Iloilo who was once employed at NIA-6 as project manager of the dam construction, joined the protest rally, as she admitted to being deceived by the agency that the project will not harm the IP communities.

Cynthia Deduro, executive director of DAGSAW, showed that while NIA never discussed the issue of submerged areas during earlier meetings with the IPs, a project feasibility study document, submitted to a funding bank, indicated some submerged areas: Barangays Galangan, Masaroy and Agcalga, all in Calinog. (FREEMAN)