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NGO, ICCs /IPs Intervene in Public Hearing for South Luzon NPC-Managed Watersheds

Posted on August 5, 2016

Luntiang Alyansa ng Bundok Banahaw (LABB) and the Tribal Chieftains of Tiwi, Albay, were admitted as the latest intervenors in the National Power Corporation’s (NPC) Petition for the Availment of Universal Charge-Environmental Charge (UC-EC) for NPC-Managed Watersheds, specifically Plan 13[1], during the Provincial Public Hearing in the Bulwagan ng Kalilayan, Lucena City, Quezon, last August 4, 2016.

NPC-Managed Luzon Watersheds (Photo courtesy of NPC)

As the headwaters of these watersheds are located within the ancestral domains of these IPs/ICCs, the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE) legal team, along with LABB and the Tiwi Tribal Chieftains, continues to advocate for a sustainable financing mechanism for watersheds that fully recognizes IP rights and participation. In Section 58 of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) or Republic Act No. 8371, "Indigenous Cultural Communities / Indigenous Peoples concerned shall be given the responsibility to maintain, develop, protect and conserve such areas with the full and effective assistance of government agencies." 

Attys. Girlie De Guzman and Dan Valenzuela, with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples’ (NCIP) Atty. Gillian S. Dunuan, Officer in Charge of NCIP’s Ancestral Domains Office, join Luntiang Alyansa Para sa Bundok Banahaw (LABB) and the Tribal Chieftains of Tiwi, Albay in the public hearing

The fourth in a series of provincial public hearings, NPC shared their watershed management plans for the Tiwi, Buhi-Barit, Caliraya-Lumot, Makiling-Banahaw watersheds, as part of their petition to avail the P426.71 million peso fund. The amount is called the Environmental Charge (EC), which is derived from the Universal Charge (UC), a portion of power generation sales nationwide.

WATERSHED AREA	AMOUNT (PHP)	PERCENT DISTRIBUTION (%)
North Luzon
Upper Agno San Roque Magat Pantabangan Angat	35,383,382.52 18,825,555.21 17,445,012.62 22,540,666.68 49,940,689.35	8% 4% 4% 5% 12%
South Luzon
Caliraya Makiling-Banahaw Buhi-Barit Tiwi	41,813,472.85   46,121,329.40   36,078,423.53   29,867,060.46	10% 11% 8% 7%
Mindanao
Lake Lanao-Agus Pulangi	36,024,292.75   45,802,184.06	9% 11%
Head Office	44,291,988.29	10%
TOTAL	426,710,057.72

 

Data c/o NPC Plan 13 Presentation

LABB and the Tiwi Tribal Chieftains are the latest in the list of intervenors to the NPC Petition, which includes FPE, the Bukidnon Umayamnon Tribe Kapoonan To Mga Datu (BUKDA), Bukidnon-Higaonon Tribal Association (BUHITA), BUGKALOT, Save Sierra Madre Network Alliance, Inc. (SSMNAI).

In the Lucena hearing, the NPC legal counsel questioned until when the court would allow further intervenors to the case, due to it being a burden on the NPC to provide all parties with copies of their watershed management plans. Atty. Dan Valenzuela, legal counsel for FPE, questioned why the court would not allow intervenors when NPC has only been given "provisional" jurisdiction, pending submission of all their jurisdictional requirements, as of August 4, 2016. Atty. Valenzuela then expressed how more intervenors and deeper public involvement in the process would actually strengthen and lend credibility to the proceedings, rather than it being a “burden” to NPC.

The next hearing is scheduled on September 19, 2016, 10 a.m., at the ERC Hearing Room, Pasig City.