[asia-apec 1011] PHILIPPINES: Japan Exim Bank visits Itogon for dam project

[tpl at cheerful.com]

From: CORDILLERA PEOPLES' ALLIANCE (CPA) <cpa at is.phil.gn.apc.org>

                        JEXIM EXPERTS TO VISIT ITOGON

Itogon---Environmental experts from the Japan Export-Import (JEXIM)
Bank are expected to visit Itogon on Monday, January 18 for an ocular
inspection.  Their findings, according to Hon. Ronald M. Cosalan,
shall have a strong bearing on the San Roque Dam Project which the
JEXIM Bank is financing.

In response, affected communities in Itogon are holding their ground.
The Shalupirip Santahnay Indigenous Peoples' Movement (SSIPM) said
they are now coordinating with the Tongtongan ti Umili, Metro-Baguio
chapter of the Cordillera Peoples' Alliance, in preparation for a
picket to be conducted at the Itogon Municipal Building on January 18.
It is very important, organizers of the picket claim, that the local
community's position not only be registered, but "be strongly
registered".

Residents of Brgy. Dalupirip have consistently opposed the project
since its inception.  They also came out with a position paper last
year demanding the immediate cancellation of the San Roque Dam Project
and an appeal to JEXIM and other Japanese banks to withdraw their
funding for the project.  JEXIM claimed it shall look into the social
and environmental impact of the project before approving any funding.

Meanwhile, recent attempts by the San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC)
to convince the people to accept the project have, so far, proved
futile.  In a consultation held last January 10 in Dalupirip, SSIPM
Chairperson Pascual Pocding made their position clear to Raymond
Cunningham, Senior Vice President and Director of the SRPC whose
shareholders are affiliates of Sithe Energies, Inc., the Marubeni
Corporation and the Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc. of Osaka,
Japan.  

Cunningham visited the area Sunday last week and discussed several
points contained in the Itogon Municipal Council's Resolution 109.
The Vice President of the SRPC reportedly said he came here "for the
good of the people in third world countries", and added he "would like
to help uplift their standard of living".  But residents of the area
reportedly armed themselves with placards in a peaceful assembly and
asked Cunningham to pack up and leave.

"We cannot be blind to what happened in the past,"  Pascual Pocding
reportedly said, referring to the experience of the Ibalois from the
Binga and Ambuklao areas who were forced out of their communities.
"This dam project will mean the end of our continued survival as
indigenous communities."

According to reports, Cunningham assured the people the San Roque Dam
will  not negatively affect them adding the experience of Binga and
Ambuklao will be different from the experience of Dalupirip.  But the
Ibaloi elders refused to believe the SRPC Vice President. 

The youth and students of the Fianza Memorial High School in Itogon
also spoke up, saying they have witnessed the suffering of their
people as youngsters.  The youth spokesperson also claimed that some
of the victims of Binga and Ambuklao are still suffering.  "We
believe," the youngster continued, "that Dalupirip is our future."
"Foreigners have conquered us in the past and we shall not allow them
to conquer us again."

Further, Council Leader of SSIPM Arnold Gapuz reportedly asked
Cunningham if he were sincere in his desire to help the people.  When
the latter said yes, Gapuz allegedly said, "If you are sincere, then
you should pack your things and go home."  Other residents echoed this
sentiment.  The people also said they requested Cunningham to tell
others of what he had seen and heard in Dalupirip.  But the SRPC Vice
President, who prior this assignment had served the US power industry
as an independent consultant for five years, reportedly claimed "that
would not be easy" because the SRPC had signed a contract with the
Philippine government.

The National Power Corporation had signed last year a contract with
Marubeni and Sithe Energies for the San Roque Dam Project under a
build-operate-transfer scheme.  This includes a 25-year power purchase
agreement under which NPC shall buy hydropower from the consortium at
P2.98 per kilowatt-hour when the project becomes operational in 2004.  

Around 49% of the SRDP's project cost will go to the power component
which is expected to generate 345 megawatts; 40% shall go to
irrigation; 9.7% to water quality and maintenance system; and 1.06% to
flood control. In October last year, the JEXIM bank already granted
the San Roque Power Corporation a $302 million loan to finance the
power components of the project.  The power component of the project
is the profit-generating  aspect of the SRDP.

Funding for the non-power components of the project shall come from a
$400 million loan the government is still negotiating with the same
bank. This is the reason behind the scheduled visit of JEXIM experts
to Itogon.

Cause-oriented groups in Japan who are supportive of the struggle of
the Ibaloi people of Itogon have mounted a strong lobby against
Japanese funding for this project.  The Friends of the Earth-Japan,
the Buraku Liberation League and 50 other environmental and indigenous
peoples' rights advocates, together with the International Rivers
Network have already started campaigning against Marubeni and Japanese
funding to the project.

***Public Information Commission-Cordillera
Peoples Alliance***