Indigenous peoples (IPs) in Kabayan, Benguet are seeking that the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process be properly followed and be free from political influence before three Hydro Electric Power Plants (HEPP) are built within their ancestral land.
The IPs had sought Benguet Governor Melchor Diclas about Tagel Corporation’s plan to build a 4.5-megawatt (MW) Eddet HEPP, 6 MW Eddet 2 HEPP and 20 MW Kabayan 4 HEPP at the Eddet River in the town.
Required by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), Tagel Corp. needs to secure a Certification Precondition (CP) from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) before getting the consent of the IPs to be able to begin with the three projects.
“The problem is that the NCIP has lumped all of the three (HEPP) projects into one CP application so that there is only one FPIC process being undertaken instead of three,” the Kabayan Ips complained.
Accordingly, the lumping up of the three projects was the effect of the application of the Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS) System law, wherein there are only 105 days for the IPs to decide on the matter and for the NCIP to process the CP application.
EVOSS is an online system that allows the coordinated submission and synchronous processing of all required data and information, and provides a single decision-making portal for actions on applications for permits or certifications necessary for, or related to, an application of a proponent for new power generation, transmission, or distribution projects.
The IPs said they are being rushed on the three projects, otherwise they will be deemed approved as per the EVOSS law.
“This would not have happened had the NCIP not lumped all three HEPP projects into just one CP application,” the IPs bantered. They added that there should have been three CP applications or one application per HEPP project.
They further accused the NCIP “for favoring the Tagel Corp. at the expense of the IPs or the Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) of Kabayan.”
The IPs also condemned the use of undue influence and interferences of the Mayor of Kabayan and other local government officials as well as their employees and an employee of the Provincial Government of Benguet in order to force the IPs to decide in favor of the Tagel Corporation and their HEPPs.
Accordingly, Kabayan Mayor Florante Bantales Jr. together with his private secretary, a certain Camilo Alumit of the Provincial Government and other personalities came out with an Executive Order creating a Technical Working Group (TWG) supposedly intended to provide technical assistance to the Kabayan IPs, “but the purpose (of which) is to pressure or influence whoever is against the HEPP projects to give in and agree to give their consent.”
The IPs insisted there was no consensus arrived at during a “tabtabal” or “tongtongan” (traditional decision-making process) between the IP leaders and the elders of the Kabayan Ancestral Domain.
The NCIP should have certified that there was no consensus and as such, the project should have been rejected, the IPs claimed before Gov. Diclas.
The IPs further claimed that Mayor Bantales, Alumit and members of the FPIC team from the NCIP Benguet Office tricked them into agreeing to the projects circumventing, adding “that it was not a “Yes to project” but only a “Yes to negotiation with the project proponent”.
“But it was actually a misrepresentation (of the IPs) because per the FPIC rules, one can proceed to negotiation only after consent to the project has already been secured. There is no such thing as ‘Yes to negotiation’,” they stressed.
Seeking Gov. Diclas’ help, the Kabayan IPs group appealed to the NCIP to stop the FPIC process and divide the CP application of the Tagle Corporation into three applications or one CP application per HEPP project so that there should be three FPIC processes.
They also sought Mayor Bantales Jr. and all other government officials and employees to stay away from the FPIC processes and stop interfering and the FPIC team to stop tricking the people.
The IPs further urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to probe the matter because two of the HEPPs are located in the Eddet River, which is within the Mt. Pulag National Park. “We need not mention the environmental damage that such structures would cause the Eddet River and the rest of Kabayan as well as its effect on our tourism industry where Mt. Pulag is our best offering,” the IPs said. Ace Alegre
