SURWEZ DIMPLE JANE B.

GE 11 BPA-B March 17, 2023

Social Issues On Indigenous People

Dumagat-Remotados Against Kaliwa Dam

The government has the responsibility to protect its people from environmental harm and provide

long-term solutions to respond to the needs of all its people, not only in Metro Manila .Basically these

project aims to increase the raw water supply to meet future water demand of Metro Manila and reduce

dependence on the Angat Dam.These project will threatens to damage the Sierra Madre and it will also

endanger numerous endemic wildlife, upset the biodiversity, and displace so many indigenous people

native to the area such as the people of Dumagat-Remotados. The construction site falls under a

protected ancestral domain.This project will cause many people from the affected barangays in Tanay,

Infanta, and General Nakar to leave their ancestral domain. For something violating many Philippine

laws, especially against our indigenous peoples, this project should not have been given the

Environmental Compliance Certificate,t he project should have secured the Free Prior and Informed

Consent (FPIC) from them. Which up until now, the EMB has failed to produce an approved FPIC.

Did you know that these project will initiate a loan from China the debt would be paid by all

Filipinos, including those not from Metro Manila. Dam project will require a loan of at least 10.37

billion pesos running on a high yearly interest of 2%, as well as an upfront spending of around 2 billion

pesos from the national treasury.Imagine, your working outside Manila and you have pay excess taxes

for these project without knowing that it's the government and private company who will benefit a lot. If

we fail to pay within China’s terms, provisions in the loan,we might end up surrendering the country’s

assets and resources which is alarming risk and will compromises our constitutional rights. While we

recognize that Metro Manila has legitimate concerns on water security, these should not be addressed at

the expense of human rights, our environment, Philippine laws and sovereignty.
 There are many alternative and more sustainable solutions rather doing these project; such as

Watershed forest conservation:Watersheds collect rainfall and disperse the runoff to support life in all

forms, conserving forests in existing watersheds like Angat and La Mesa is not only more cost effective

but will ensure continued water supply for Metro Manila and these water may be redirected to irrigate

farmlands or be accessed through more modern urban waterworks for consumption and various other

forms of utilization - Repairing and improving existing dams : Protect and rehabilitate degraded

watersheds: Protection & rehabilitation is known as an affordable, practical, and preemptive solution in

ensuring sustained water supply in Metro Manila and other areas - Repairing and improving water

distribution facilities: Improving services of water by reducing their non-revenue water lost to leakages

in water pipes is another economical solution yet to be earnestly considered. Explore and apply new

technologies: Recycling water is yet another viable, but unexplored answer to the issue. This could be

treated and used for agricultural and landscape irrigation, and industrial processes, among others-

Applying and strengthening water conservation policies: The Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat

(SALINTUBIG) program aims to provide waterless communities with a clean and potable supply of

water. For this year, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) has identified 89 local government

units (LGUs) as target beneficiaries of the program.

Did you know that IRAN approximately lost it's 85% of its natural groundwater resources due to

over pumping and excessive dam. This might happen to us, in the Philippines we have 70% can be

considered as watershed areas, i believe with of our government agencies such as DENR, Dept. of

Agriculture, Bureau if Animal Industry and NCIP together with non profit NGO, the reason why there

must be Government and Non government Organization is for transparency in every way of the project.

Watershed Management Solution don't have to be complicated to be effective with a few properly

planned changes water can be brought to were it is needed the most.

A watershed is an area of land where groundwater, rainfall, and snow melt drains down to a single point

like a stream, lake, or ocean. It is similar to a big funnel that drains down to one spot. Watershed

management, on the other hand, is the process of how land-use practices and natural resources are used.

Watershed management has proved to be useful in Wankute, India with the help of non profit NGO

where local people had to import tankers for water before and when WOTR interfered and built a water

treatment structure composed of bunds (to slow down and filter run off water from rainfall and hence

reduce soil degradation or to minimize water losses) and check dams( a small dam constructed across a

drainage ditch, swale, or channel to lower the velocity of flow.),this prove successful over the year. This

process can also be quite helpful for the rest of the world in solving drought problems. A considerable

amount of people in the world do not have access to clean water and climate change only makes things

worse. OUR ENVIROMENT, OUR ECONOMY , OUR SOCIETY DEPEND ON A HEALTHY

WATERSHED.