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Monday, April 21, 2008
DENR 11 director hit for OK of hydropower plant
DAVAO CITY -- An environmentalist group strongly criticized the regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Southern Mindanao for his approval of the controversial hydropower plant in Sibulan, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
In a statement, Panalipdan-Southern Mindanao vice chair Fr. Medardo Salomia called DENR Southern Mindanao Director Ricardo Calderon's action as "unfortunate", saying the plant's operation violates the ancestral land rights of the indigenous people in the area.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
"Such operation stands in violation of the Bagobos' rights to their ancestral lands. Contrary to Calderon's statement, the Sibulan hydropower plant is bound to destroy the ecological biodiversity of Tudaya and will cause negative impact on the whole of Mt. Apo, which is supposed to be protected from such corporate and profit-oriented projects," Fr. Salomia said.
Panalipdan-Southern Mindanao is an alliance of environmental advocates, academe, church people, youth, farmers, and indigenous peoples groups.
The network is based in Davao City and has members from all provinces in Southern Mindanao. Panalipdan has actively campaigned against the construction of Hedcor's hydropower plant.
Datu Monico Cayog, Panalipdan convener and vice chair of Pasaka Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao, also lambasted the DENR.
He said the Hedcor operation disturbed the sacredness of the Tudaya falls and destroyed coffee farms in the area.
"The sacred Tudaya falls of the Tagabawa-lumads is now being violated with the huge pipes and heavy equipment of Hedcor. More appalling, militarization is causing unrest in the area and the people fear the presence of the 39th IB and 72nd IB," Cayog said.
Cayog warned that the ongoing construction of the hydropower plant will further destroy the "supposed natural park." He said the hydropower plant would add to the water pollution and disruption caused by the Philippine National Oil Corporation's (PNOC) geothermal power plant, which had reportedly caused arsenic contamination of some bodies of water in the PNOC operations area.
On April 22, during the celebration of the Earth Day, Panalipdan together with support groups will picket the DENR office in Lanang, Davao City as a show of protest against environmental policies that promote the construction of corporate dams, large-scale foreign mining, commercial logging, and land use and crop conversion. They will also protest the Arroyo government's use of military force to secure business investments.
Panalipdan will also hold a region-wide conference that will feature environmental inputs and workshops to be participated in by various environmental advocates and other concerned individuals and groups. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (April 21, 2008 issue)
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