TUBA, Benguet -- Incumbent and newly elected municipal officials want the winning developer of the city-owned Asin Hydro power plants to negotiate with the affected land owners and the host communities in order to avert whatever possible complications of their operations in the future.
Board member-elect and incumbent Mayor Florencio Bentrez admitted the municipal government received several invitations from Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan for a dialogue.
But this has not been realized yet while the winning developer, Kaltimex Energy Philippines, has yet to be confirmed by the City Council.
While they appreciate the efforts of Mayor Domogan for a dialogue, Bentrez said Tuba officials want to directly negotiate with the winning bidder because the developer can commit whatever benefits will be due to the host communities and even to the municipal government.
“We have laid out three conditions for hydro developers in our locality to strictly adhere to. One is that there should be no diversion of the water in the river system desired to be developed, the affected land owners should be duly compensated and that issues and concerns should be addressed and the endorsements of the affected barangays should also be secured,” Bentrez said.
Vice Mayor Clarita Sal-ongan said the Municipal Council also received similar invitations from Domogan for a dialogue but it was a collective decision of the municipal council to wait for the decision of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) on the transfer of the water rights from the Baguio Water District (BWD) to the city government which the municipality has previously opposed.
Sal-ongan also said the Municipal Council has not yet received any request from the winning developer of the Asin mini hydro power plants for dialogues and consultations relative to their supposed operation.
Bentrez said the issue on the Goldlink Global Energy Philippines, which the Municipal Government endorsed its application for the development of hydro power plants along the Asin river and the city-owned Asin hydro power plants, must be treated separately though their operations are situated in a similar river system.
Councilor and Mayor-elect Ignacio Rivera said interested developers of hydro power plants in the different parts of the locality must strictly adhere to the conditions of free and prior informed consent under Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples rights Act (Ipra) because the consent of the host communities and the affected indigenous peoples will be instrumental in ensuring their smooth operations in the future.
Rivera said proponents of hydro power plants must first seek the consent of the indigenous peoples who will be affected of the operations so that their projects will not encounter stiff opposition once they start development work. (Baguio PIO)