60 years after, land disputes in Ambuklao and Binga about to end

BAGUIO, Philippines – After almost 60 years of land disputes that have disrupted operations of the Ambuklao-Binga Hydroelectric complex, a settlement is about to be made. A Memorandum of Agreement is set for signing on May 19 between stakeholders from two municipalities and SN Aboitiz Power Benguet, Inc. (SNAPB), which formally took over operations of the two hydroelectric dams a year ago. National Power Corporation President Froilan A. Tampinco is set to attend the milestone with Jose C. Ibazeta, president of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALMS) Corporation led by Emmanuel V. Rubio, chief executive officer of SNAPB. Benguet governor Nestor Fongwan will lead the signing ceremonies. Signing of the MOA ending the impasse is to be witnessed by Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes. Stakeholders from each municipality were invited to attend the gathering, which is supposed to end decades of legal and cultural differences with messages of inspiration to be given by Bokod Mayor Mauricio Macay and Mario W. Godio, Mayor of Itogon. SNAPB has not been fazed by problems surrounding the Ambuklao and Binga dams. Ibaloi families who have been uprooted from their villages to give way to the dams have unresolved complaints against the state-run National Power Corporation for breaches in promises. Rubio said the signing of the MOA is the start of a long-healing process of land claimants and stakeholders of the area. “This may not be everything but this is something that we can work from now on," said indigenous peoples representative Norberto Pacio. The creation of an Indigenous Peoples Heritage Site (IPHS) in both areas with 10 stakeholders groups is aimed to empower the local communities with the turnover of land. The granting of an IPHS releases the residual land areas to the Ambuklao and Tinongdan barangays, leaving management and determination of its use to the stakeholders. The communities will now have to focus on how to use the land area to be given to them. The assistance of the International Finance Corporation - World Bank (IFC WB) in coordination with the Compliance Advisory Ombudsman (CAO) was sought by local communities since the IFC financed SNAPB in its rehabilitation plan. CAO is a facility of the Office of the President of the World Bank, which provides assistance to people and communities who may be affected by projects that the IFC WB funds. In 2006 SNAPB won the bid to operate the dams and resume operations, besting other investors by $325 million. The NPC still maintains ownership of the dam and its land holdings. The Ambuklao and Binga hydroelectric power plants, which supplies electricity to the Luzon grid, were privatized as a package through an international tender process, as part of the privatization program under a comprehensive sector reform law, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). Amar Inamdar, CAO – IFC-World Bank is also expected to be at the signing ceremonies this week. - GMANews.TV