No consent for construction: IP refuse to allow MWSS to build Kaliwa Dam

By Billy Begas

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has yet to secure the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of all the six indigenous groups that will be affected by the construction of New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project (NCWS-KDP).

During the deliberation of the House Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples, Agta-Dumagat leader Marcelino Tena said that only one of six clustered groups has given its FPIC.

FPIC is a requirement needed by MWSS to secure the permission of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to proceed with the P12.2 billion project.

MWSS deputy administrator Leonor Cleofas said no construction can be done until the contractor China Energy Engineering Corp. (CEEC) has secured all the permits and clearances needed.

Cleofas said CEEC is only conducting surveys and geological investigation to come up with a detailed engineering design for the dam.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro have called for a special audit on MWSS funds following Tena’s revelation that the tribe that gave its FPIC received P20 million fund from the agency.

“Parang padulas ito, they are using the carrot and stick method,” said Zarate.

But IP leader Thelma Aumentado claimed that the money was part of the MWSS assistance to the tribe affected with the construction of another project, the Angat-Umiray project in Quezon.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)