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BC, PBAC snub council hearing on bulk water

Itogon folk dismayed

BAGUIO CITY (Dec. 13) — The Benguet Corporation (BC) and the Baguio Water District (BWD) representatives did not show up during this week’s regular session of the city council, deferring the council decision on the bulk water supply project applied for by BC in Itogon, Benguet.

BC asked to be excused from the session for no apparent reason while BWD’s Teresita de Guzman said the Board of Directors advised the water distribution agency to “hold in abeyance attendance to the council sessions until the bidding process was over”.

Dismayed, the city residents and Itogon folk left the session and held a short program outside.

The city council last week decided to postpone its decision because BC was absent during the deliberations. It also asked that a representative of the procurement bids and awards committee (PBAC) of the BWD be present to shed light on the bulk water supply project.

The hearing could not proceed without the necessary appearances.

Refusal to inform Itogon folk?

“Nabutnganda iti umayan ti tattao,” (They were frightened by the coming of people) a Dalupirip elder was heard saying. He said, he came to listen to the BC statement in order to see the logic of the bulk water supply project. “Does this mean that BC is not ready to let the public know the status of the project?” he asked.

He said people in Dalupirip, Itogon came to listen to what BC will tell the council about its proposed for a bulk water supply project. He wanted to know the sources BC will tap for the 50,000 cubic meters that it will give BWD. He fears that BC will take away the water that people use to irrigate rice lands and for domestic use.

Chie Galvez, Pro-Consumers spokesperson and secretary general of Tongtongan ti Umili- Cordillera Peoples Alliance (TTU-CPA) said her group, made up of several people’s organizations, is grossly disappointed. She said that it will be too late for the council to go on with its inquiry when the bidding process shall have been over.

“Nagtataka lang kami kung bakit ang dali-daling mag-excuse sa council hearing ng Benguet Corporation,” (We are just wondering why it is very easy for BC to ask excuse from a council hearing) Galvez said.

Community moves

Itogon folk also lobbied with the municipal council members who assured them that there was no council endorsement for the BC water project. The council claimed that it has not received any document from BC.

Rosita Bargaso, barangay captain of Gumatdang who was among the Itogon folk in the session hall said her constituents do not like BC to get water from Itogon. She told NORDIS that a barangay resolution has been prepared for this purpose.

Meanwhile barangay Tuding has submitted its position paper to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) on November 11 last year. It said, among others, that the bulk water supply project may be beneficial to both the proponent and the community but the cost of its negative results and implications would be much greater than the benefits.

It said that social acceptability is an important factor in the approval and implementation of a project. It raised several issues, among them livelihood, community water sources and land tenure.

Tuding is the proposed site for the water treatment plant and distribution facility. Residents fear the displacement of small scale miners as a result of the bulk water supply project. They also raised issues on agriculture, and the rights to their water sources.

Itogon Inter-barangay Alliance (IIB-A) submitted a resolution to the Itogon LGU strongly opposing BC’s bulk water project and urging the cancellation of its water permits for water sources in Itogon. It said that there is water shortage in Itogon because most of its major ground and water sources have already been adversely affected by mining operations.

For profit

The alliance said that the” bulk water supply project will not serve the interests of water consumers in Baguio and other urban portions of BLIST (Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon and Sablan), but only the company’s interest in profit”.

Benguet Corporation has been mining in Itogon for more than a century now. Aside from BC, Philex (1958), Itogon Suyoc Mines, (1968) and several other smaller mining operations have depleted Itogon’s mineral and water resources. Due to this condition, IIB-A maintains that most barangays in Itogon have found it difficult to source water for their homes, fields and animals.

IIB-A questions the bulk water supply project because BC did not inform the Itogon communities of the true nature and extent of the project. It also cited an earlier study that the water BC would be giving to BWD is toxic due to presence of mine effluents and dirty because it would come from water-logged mine tunnels.

Treatment process

The water treatment process as promised by BC “appears to be infeasible inasmuch as technology has yet to solve the problem of removing dissolved heavy metals from water,” IIB-A said. It added that if the process allows the removal of heavy metals, it would be very costly and would drive the water price up.

Earlier, BWD Manager Teresita de Guzman told media that it is impossible for the BWD to monitor the treatment process. She mentioned during the council hearing that BWD will not take unsafe, not potable water for the city dwellers, adding that it will be the responsibility of the supplier to make sure the water it delivers passes the Philippine standards for drinking water.

De Guzman was grilled last week when councilors had their time during the city council investigation. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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