The Paradox of Development:

Development Aggression
through Development Projects
The Case of Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase
2 (JRMP II)
Introduction
• Over 900 million people in the world are the poorest of the poor
wherein at least one-third of them are indigenous peoples, and more
than half of them live in Asia. Asian Development Bank (2009)

• International recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples

• Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment of 1972
• UN Conference on Environment and Development 1992

• Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA)

This study aims to analyze how the promotion of sustainable development
through development projects affecting the indigenous people of Panay
Island such as the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase 2 (JRMP II)
causes development aggression. Specifically, the study has the following
objectives:

• To provide a background on the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase 2

(JRMP II) in Panay Island.
• To explain development aggression through the major issues faced by the
indigenous people in Calinog regarding the dam construction.
• To analyze the sustainability of the development project using the
multidimensional approach of sustainability.
Key Readings
• Chapter 2: Sustainable Development – Background and Context
Michelsen, G. et al. (2016)

• Murphy, K. (2012). The social pillar of sustainable development: A

literature review and framework for policy analysis. Sustainability:
Science, Practice, & Policy, 8 (1).

• Sustainability Science by Robert W. Kates

Key Readings
Chapter 2: Sustainable Development – Background and Context
Michelsen, G. et al. (2016)
• The multidimensional model emphasize the equal importance of the dimensions
within, typically composed of two to eight dimensions. The most common model
is with three dimensions such as ecological, social, and economic.
• These are mutually interdependent and cannot be improved separately without
the risk of compromising the development process as a whole.
• For Stoltenberg (2000), culture is an important role in attaining a sustainable
society and should be considered as a separate dimension since it involves
lifestyle, value systems, education, and economic systems or the way of
developing technology as a cultural background.
Key Readings
Murphy, K. (2012). The social pillar of sustainable development: A
literature review and framework for policy analysis. Sustainability:
Science, Practice, & Policy, 8 (1).

• The Social/Environmental Framework

• Includes the four conceptual classifications namely equity, awareness
for sustainability, participation, and social cohesion
Key Readings
Sustainability Science by Robert W. Kates

• Sustainability science characterized by use-inspired research; defined

by the practical problems of sustainability it addresses and by
theories and models of interactions between natural and social
systems.
• Transdisciplinary structure entails that sustainability scientists move
beyond the approaches, training, and skill sets of their disciplines to
become more problem oriented rather than discipline oriented.
Development of the Past
Top-down approach
• centralized decision making
• development through large scale significant projects by the
government
Development of the Present and of the
Future
Sustainable development

Brundtland Commission’s “Our Common Future”

“Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure
that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Development Aggression
Development aggression happens when development projects are
implemented without consultation and consent from the affected
communities; cause massive displacement of indigenous communities,
and consequently the loss of their livelihood, culture and identity. Asia
Indigenous Peoples Pact (2011)

Government implements laws, policies and programs for development,

such as mining, energy projects and plantations in ancestral lands that
do not correspond to the needs and situations of the indigenous
communities. Singson (2014)
Plan for Analysis

The four-dimensional model of sustainability (Following Stoltenberg 2010)

Findings
 Background:
The Jalaur River Multipurpose
Project Phase 2 (JRMP II)
Documents Used
• JRMP II Land Acquisition and Resettlement Action Plan of the NIA

• Necropolitics: Panay’s Tumandok burial grounds and the Jalaur River

Multipurpose Project Phase II (JRMP II)
• Undergraduate Research Project by Balani and Mangilog (2016)
Jalaur River Multipurpose Project (First Phase)
• Republic Act No. 2651 of 1960 authorizing the implementation of the
JRMP under the Bureau of Public Works
• to provide multi-purpose utilization of water resources for irrigation,
hydroelectric power and potable water supply to nearby
municipalities in the Province of Iloilo which also include Iloilo City
• Creation of National Irrigation Administration (NIA)
• Funded by World Bank (1977-1983)
• Five (5) national irrigation systems were included in the Stage I of
JRMP: Jalaur, Suague, Aganan, Sta. Barbara and Sibalom RIS.
• Provided irrigation for a total area of more than 22, 340 hectares.
Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase 2
(JRMP II)

• Promising results from the feasibility study by NIA in 2009

• According to the JRMP II Land Acquisition and Resettlement Action

Plan, the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project aims to sustain the
region’s rice self-sufficiency and contribute to the annual increase in
the country’s rice production target of 7.6%.
Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase 2
(JRMP II)
Objectives:
• provide year-round irrigation for increases agricultural production to
the 22,340 hectares currently being served by the five existing
irrigation systems and irrigating 9,500 hectares currently rainfed areas
• build a 6.6 Megawatt hydro-electric power plant to supplement the
power supply of the problem
• augment domestic water supply for consumption in the nearby
municipalities including Iloilo City
• realize other intangible benefits including flooding mitigation and
promotion of eco-tourism
Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase 2 (JRMP II)

Artist rendition of JRMP Phase II. Source: www.neda-rdc6.ph

Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase 2 (JRMP II)
• Jalaur High Dam, And Jalaur After Bay Dam in Barangays Agcala and
Alibunan and the Catch Dam in Barangay Toyungan, all in the
Municipality of Calinog
• 80.736 km stretched High-line Canal passing through the
municipalities of Calinog, Lambunao, Badiangan, Janiuay, Cabatuan,
San Miguel, Oton and Tigbauan with estimated canal width of 40
meters
• Costs Php 11.212 billion (soft loan of Php 8.950 billion granted by the
Korea Exim Bank under a loan agreement).
• Remaining amount of Php 2.261 Billion is the country’s counterpart
Issues faced by the Tumandok regarding the
JRMP Phase II
Displacement
• Expected to displace 17, 000 Tumandok, affecting 16 ICCs
• Loss of livelihood
• Loss of assets
• Loss of burial ground and sacred sites
Panay’s Tumandok and their belief
Balani and Mangilog’s (2016) study “Necropolitics: Panay’s Tumandok
burial grounds and the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase II
(JRMP II)” documented and identified several burial grounds and
sacred site that are located on the areas of proposed dam construction.

• The Tumandok have a belief in the death and the sacredness of their
dead which are properly remembered like for example, planting
kawayan in the burial grounds.
It was found out through the findings of the ISM (2016) that there was
no real free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) obtained from the
Tumandok regarding the construction of the dam (Mongaya, 2016).
• “consultative assemblies” by the NCIP only presented the advantages
of the project while masking the negative effects
• “Affected communities were given promises of incentives so that they
would support the project, while those who resisted were threatened
and intimidated by state forces.”
Various Perspectives regarding the JRMP II
Separate studies from:
• Members of the academe
• Independent scientists
• NGOs
Academe
“A Case Study of Environmental Monitoring of Korean Official
Development Assistance Projects in the Philippines”
-the Social Sciences and Philosophy Research Foundation, Inc (2013)
-UP Diliman
Academe
Impacts (positive)
• More livelihood sources
• More farm-to-market roads

(Negative)
• Social impact (displacement, loss of land and resources)
Technical experts
• Advocates of Science and Technology for the People or AGHAM
• Environmental Investigation Mission (2012)

• joints or rock fractures and faults in the geological structures

• alteration of ecological biodiversity
NGO
• Jalaur River for the People Movement (JRPM)
• Briefing Paper (2012)

• Proximity to the West Panay Fault

• High susceptibility of flooding to downstream areas
• worsening debt of the country
Analysis
Cost and benefits within the dimensions of sustainability.

Economic Dimension Ecological Dimension

Costs: Costs:
Additional national debt Physical environment alteration
Loss of livelihood for the affected communities Ecological biodiversity alteration
Loss of plant species
Benefits: Flooding on downstream communities
Employment (during implementation)
Expected increase in agricultural productivity Benefits:
Expected increase in water supply Crafting of an Integrated Watershed Management Plan
Expected additional provision of electric power supply
Tourism

Social Dimension Cultural Dimension

Costs: Costs:
Further marginalization of the Tumandok Destruction of burial grounds and sacred site
Division within indigenous communities Loss of right to the natural resources of respective ancestral
Displacement lands
Difficulty in access to basic social structures and services Loss of cultural identity
Disruption of tradition
Benefits:
Resettlement and community adoption of the affected Benefits: ?
indigenous communities
Social Dimension
Murphy’s Social/Environmental Framework
• Equity
• Awareness for sustainability
• Participation
• Social cohesion

• These social indicators were not addressed by the JRMP II.

Sustainability science
• Emphasizes transdisciplinary structure

• Feasibility study and report of the Korea Exim Bank as basis for
implementation

• Separate studies from the academe, NGOs, or technical experts were

not considered during the planning process.
Conclusion
• Emphasis on the economic dimension (benefits)
• Not holistic to be considered as sustainable based on the
multidimensional model of sustainability.
• JRMP II as an example of development project that causes
development aggression