MANILA (UCAN): Bishop Bernardino Cortez of Infanta, Quezon province, the Philippines, said the fight against Kaliwa Dam is a “matter of survival” among those who cannot defend themselves because of poverty and lack of education.
The bishop said the dam poses risks to lowland agricultural and fishing communities including the Dumagat tribe.
The Dumagats are one of the major indigenous peoples living in southern Luzon along the Sierra Madre, the longest mountain range in the Philippines. They depend on farming, hunting and fishing.
Government figures say the tribe now numbers less than 30,000 and many of them have been robbed of their ancestral land by big corporations.
Bishop Cortez said he had received reports that the Dumagats had been displaced and their source of food threatened due to construction of the dam which will supply Manila with water.
“So, you will understand by geography and the nature of our indigenous people that their survival highly depends on the condition of our mountains, forests, rivers, and the protection of our mangroves and seashores,” Bishop Cortez said in a video message.
The bishop said it was unjust if the Dumagat were forced out of their ancestral land because their rights were protected by law.
“The government must not be the cause of the abuse of their rights. Rather, it must protect the rights of these people because there is a law that protects them,” Bishop Cortez said, referring to Republic Act No. 8371, otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997, which protects indigenous communities.
“The state shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples to their ancestral domains to ensure their economic, social and cultural well-being and shall recognize the applicability of customary laws governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership and extend of ancestral domain,” it states.
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Bishop Cortez said the government must treat the poor fairly even though an influential and rich country like China has funded the project.
“This dam would pose environmental threats in the watershed forest reserve where our indigenous people live. By destroying nature in the area, we also destroy the source of living and habitat of our indigenous people,” Bishop Cortez added.
The bishop said the government must look for alternative sources of water instead of destroying nature that indigenous people depend on for survival.
“We hope and pray that our people in this Jubilee for the Earth will develop a new mindset and a paradigm shift in our care and use of the common home,” Bishop Cortez added.
