Two indigenous peoples teams had been paid P80 million every by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the Kaliwa Dam building challenge.
According to Lei Alviz’s Tuesday “24 Oras” report, after eight years of negotiations, the MWSS was now assured there have been not any issues within the dam’s building because the IPs had given their consent.
Included within the settlement was the supply that the land on which the challenge can be constructed would stay the IP’s property, and they might additionally obtain authorities help.
On Tuesday, a welcoming and thanksgiving ritual was carried out by the Dumagat-Remontado on the MWSS Compound in Quezon City as a part of the turnover ceremony of the disturbance charges.
The two indigenous folks’s organizations that acquired the P80 million charges had been from Tanay, Rizal, and General Nakar, Quezon.
According to one of many gemot or group elders, the significance of the Kaliwa Dam and the way it could provide water to Metro Manila and its neighboring areas was defined to them.
“Pumayag kami na inyong kunin. Pero siyempre kung kaunlaran yan, dapat kami kabahagi dyan. Dahil marami nang programa ang ating pamahalaan na, kung tinitingnan, ang mga katutubo ay hindi napapasama,” stated Dumagat-Remontado group elder Bayani “Bakne” Askaraga.
“It is a recognition that they’re the homeowners of the ancestral area, so walang switch of possession doon sa space. So para ka lang umuupa. Walang inaagaw na lupa, the possession of the IPs over the world,” stated Josefina Rodriguez-Agusti, Regional Hearing Officer/Designated spokesperson on Kaliwa Dam.
Based on the memorandum of settlement, the disturbance charges can be allotted to livelihood, schooling, and cultural enhancement applications.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples would information the teams in implementing such applications.
“Dito po sa amin kahit malapit lang sa Metro Manila o kung yung tawagin niyong Quezon, napaka-wala kaming nakapag-aral. Kung meron man, eh talagang napaka-mababang ano pa. Gusto rin namin maabot yung mga naaabot ng ibang tribo na may mga abugado, mga doktor, iba pang mga kurso,” Bakne added.
When the Kaliwa dam begins to function, every of the 46 indigenous communities in Rizal and Quezon will obtain P1 million in monetary help annually.
A resettlement location will even be allotted within the space for 66 households that can be instantly affected.
“Wala na tayong problema sa pagpapatuloy ng Kaliwa Dam project, sa side ng ating mga katutubong kapatid. Pero ito ay simula pa lang. Sa construction tayo ay patuloy na makikipag-niig, makikipag-ugnayan sa ating mga katutubo,” stated MWSS Administrator Leonor Cleofas.
According to the water safety roadmap, the Kaliwa Dam can be accomplished by the tip of 2026 and can be operational by the start of 2027.
The dam was anticipated to provide 600 million liters of water per day.
However, there have been nonetheless protests towards the challenge, together with a march that began from General Nakar, Quezon.
The march is on its seventh day and was in Antipolo, Rizal.
The protesters had been anticipated to reach in Metro Manila on Wednesday.
The protesters argued that the Kaliwa Dam challenge threatened the lives and safety of the IPs and would destroy the surroundings. — Sherylin Untalan/DVM, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
