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Hundreds start march to stop Laiban Dam Building
By Ernie Manio
ABS-CBN News Online
November 4, 2009

QUEZON PROVINCE – 160 protesters started a 148-kilometer, 9-day march from General Nakar in Quezon province to Malacañang asking President Arroyo to scrap the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Services’ (MWSS) proposed 113-meter-high Laiban Dam Project.

Laiban Dam is the P50 billion project in Tanay town in Rizal province that aims to aid the water supply crisis in Metro Manila.

The protesters believe however that there is no crisis in the capital region and instead pointed to mismanagement by a water utility company.

They said that the leaks in the valves of Maynilad is the major cause of water shortage in Manila. Had those been fixed, the water shortage will be resolved, they asserted. The project is anti-environment, anti-development, and anti-human rights, Bro. Martin Francisco of Save Sierra Madre Network (SSMN) stressed.

The “walk” was led by Francisco. Members of indigenous tribes like Dumagats and Remontados joined the march. Walking with them were members of Task Force Sierra Madre, Pambansang Kilusan ng Samahang Magsasaka and Freedom from Debt Coalition. Representatives from various groups like Haribon Foundation, Ecowaste Coalition, COPE Infanta, Green Convergence, Sagibin Indigenous People’s Coalition – Quezon Province and Urban Poor Coalition also joined the march.

The dam reservoir of the dam project will reportedly submerge 9 barangays in Tanay and 1 in General Nakar town in Quezon province and will destroy 27,800 hectares of agricultural land. The ancestral lands of the Dumagat and Remontado tribes will reportedly also be erased from the map.

Since they believe large dams have been proven to be disastrous and destructive to the communities, the group proposed alternatives.

Build small scale dams, and restore denuded forests in Angat, Ipo and La Mesa watersheds, the protestors proposed. They also said that the anti-logging campaign should be intensified existing watershed such as the Wawa Watershed should be rehabilitated.

Private individuals who believe in the group’s advocacy showed support by giving them food, medicine, and raincoats. An ambulance was also seen at stand by.

“Bakit kailangan naming maglakad ng ganoon kalayo para lang mapansin kami ng gobyerno?” Francisco said.

The group will walk from General Nakar going to Real town in Quezon Wednesday. On the second day, from Real, they will head to Llavac. From LLavac, they will go to Famy in Laguna. On the fourth day, they will reportedly be met by fishermen in Tanay in Rizal, who will then be joining the march. On the fifth day, they are set to hold a mass in Tanay. From Tanay, the group will head to Antipolo City for a dialogue with the Department of Agriculture. From there, they will go to MWSS.

On the sixth day, the marchers will proceed to the central offices of Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Department of Agrarian Reform and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. And finally, on the last day, they said they would be hoping for a meeting with President Arroyo.




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