Advocates of indigenous people's (IP) rights marched to National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Quezon City on Monday, Feb. 20, to protest the construction of the New Centennial Water Source - Kaliwa Dam Project (NCWS-KDP).

NCWS-KDP is a project proposed by the Metro Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to provide an additional water source for residents of Metro Manila, Cavite, and Rizal.

The IP groups said that the KDP construction will result in "forcible displacement" from their ancestral lands and livelihood.

Among the IP groups that joined the protest rally were Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, BAI Indigenous Women’s Network, No To Kanan-Kaliwa-Laiban Dam Network, Lumad and Dumagat-Remontado IP, and Katribu Youth.

“The Kaliwa Dam Project will destroy the ancestral lands and farms of the indigenous Dumagat and Remontados and peasants of Rizal and Quezon Provinces. The NCIP, led by Ret. Maj. Allen Capuyan, has manipulated the process of free prior informed consent (FPIC) of the IP communities affected in the project,” Beverly Longid, national convener of Katribu said.

Katribu is a political party that promotes IP rights.

“Hindi namin pinagdadamot ang tubig sa aming lugar. Malugod naming ibinabahagi ang yaman ng aming lupang ninuno sa kung sino ang nangangailangan lalo pa’t para sa nakararami. Pero kung sisirain naman nito ang lupang ninuno, ang Sierra Madre, at ang aming lahi, ay hindi kami papayag (We are not against sharing the waters from our ancestral lands. We gladly share our resources to all who need them, especially the general public. But if this will mean the destruction of our ancestral lands, the Sierra Madre, and our people, then we will not allow it),” Kakay Tolentino, a Dumagat and national coordinator of BAI Indigenous Women’s Network, said at the protest rally today.

BAI is a network of indigenous women's groups working together to improve the rights of indigenous women.

The march was organized in observance of World Day of Social Justice. It was also part of the nine-day KDP protest, where IP groups will conduct a 150-kilometer march in Manila and QC from Feb. 15 to 24.

“The NCIP, together with the military, red-tagged IP leaders who opposed the project. It was also reported to have contrived the FPIC processes by inviting Dumagat leaders from the wrong clusters, then allowing them to vote, representing clusters in which they don’t belong. Meanwhile, oppositional IP leaders were not informed of such cluster meetings, nor were they allowed to participate in the votation,” Longid added.

Meanwhile, Kim Falyao, deputy secretary general of Katribu Youth, proposed alternative solutions for water shortage in Metro Manila.

Falyao said the government could rehabilitate existing dams and watersheds and develop rainwater harvesting or desalination.

"We don’t have to destroy lives and the environment to provide water,” she pleaded.

The IP groups also organized a public forum at the Student Union Building at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman on Monday afternoon.

Katribu said they will also hold another protest at the gates of MWSS along Katipunan Avenue, QC on the same day.

Meanwhile, Katribu said the Dumagat delegation composed of at least 300 individuals arrived in Metro Manila to register their KDP opposition.

“Ang tubig na magmumula sa mapanirang dam na ito ay mababahiran ng dugo naming mga Dumagat,” Tolentino concluded (The water which will come from this destructive dam will be stained by our blood, the Dumagat people), it said.