Around 300 Dumagat-Remontado indigenous people (IP), together with environmental groups and other advocates from the agriculture sector, are currently in the middle of a nine-day protest, marching to Malacañang from General Nakar, Quezon since Feb. 15 to urge the government to stop the Kaliwa mega-dam project.
Dubbed “Alay Lakad Laban sa Kaliwa Dam”, the protest will cover 150 kilometers and pass through Quezon, Laguna, and Rizal as part of the IPs' move to reiterate their call against the construction of the New Centennial Water Source–Kaliwa Dam Project (NWCP-KDP) in the borders of Rizal and Quezon Province.
“We mobilized today to emphasize our firm opposition against the construction of the New Centennial Water Source–Kaliwa Dam Project—which we see as anti-people and anti-environment. We have been fighting against this project for decades, under the rule of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and we continue to do so under his son’s new regime,” said indigenous Dumagat Kakay Tolentino, spokesperson of the Network Opposed to Kaliwa-Kanan-Laiban Dam.
The NWCS-KDP, a project proposed by the Metro Manila Waterworks and Sewage System (MWSS), is being sold as a “solution” to the water problem of Metro Manila, the country’s capital region. The environmental and conservation group STOP Kaliwa Dam Network, on the other hand, pointed out that solving the water crisis in Metro Manila must not bring dangers to local residents who rely on the Kaliwa River and the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve for clean water, food, livelihood, and protection from climate impacts.
“Defense of ancestral lands and waters is integral in realizing Indigenous Peoples right to self-determination. Submerging almost a hundred hectares of lands will cause irreparable loss of sacred sites, forests, biodiversity and communities in a crucial time we are battling against planetary devastation due to climate change,” stressed International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) Global Coordinator Beverly Longid.
Construction saw fast-tracking last year, according to the proponents of the dam project, because of IPs gave their consent to the project. The Indigenous Dumagats, however, said otherwise. The group also aims to gather 500,000 signatures by February 23 and has so far generated 200,000 signatures.
"Our online signature petition to stop Kaliwa Dam has reached 200,000. It coincided with the arrival of our members of indigenous group Dumagat-Remontado who have walked for nine days," Stop Kaliwa Dam Project Convenor and Save Sierra Madre Network Inc. Executive Director Convenor Conrad Vargas said.
The Dumagats also acknowledge the water crisis and the need for a solution, but for IPs and environmental activists, the rights of IP, environmental protection, and the people’s right to clean water should not conflict with each other, rather alternative solutions should be sought to provide the needs of the people whilst safeguarding their rights.
“We can clearly see that these mega projects and huge foreign investments are linked to the increasing conflicts, harassments, criminalization and worst the murder of Indigenous Peoples in these communities,” Longid said.