Saltan Dam and Tabuk hydro projects have been shelved.
As the Cordillera Peoples Alliance–Kalinga (CPA–Kalinga) filed a petition at the NCIP Regional Office, September 15, demanding the immediate cancellation of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) applications for DPJ Engineers’ Upper Tabuk Hydropower Project (UTHP) and JBD Water Power Inc.’s (JWPI) Saltan Dams, Regional Director Roland Calde revealed both projects have been thumbed down.
Juan Dammay, Chairperson of CPA–Kaling said “This is a victory for the Kalinga tribes threatened by these development-aggression projects. We welcome the NCIP’s decision and hope that other opposed projects will meet the same fate. We will remain vigilant and expect more decisive action in the coming days.”
Calde said the Saltan Dam projects FPIC processes have already been terminated while the UTHP is up for similar fate.
JWPI’s terminated projects include the 49-MW Saltan D and 45-MW Saltan E along the Saltan River, a tributary of the Chico River. However, other renewable-energy and large-scale mining projects continue to threaten Kalinga, often accompanied by intense militarization. Among these is the 200-MW Abra-Kalinga Wind Farm, also by JWPI, which poses an urgent threat to the municipalities of Balbalan and Pasil in Kalinga, as well as Malibcong, Licuan-Baay, and Daguioman in Abra. Geothermal projects of the Aragorn Power and Energy Corporation would affect the municipalities of Lubuagan, Pasil, and Tinglayan. Placed alongside large-scale mining applications, these projects leave the province of Kalinga facing severe threats.
“The failure of the FPIC process to proceed is the result of sustained protests by affected communities over the years. The NCIP’s termination is long overdue, and those projects still up for termination should be cancelled immediately,” added CPA spokesperson Ned Tuguinay.
CPA continues to call for the cancellation of these projects and for the genuine recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.