[OPINION] Kaliwa Dam and climate justice

NOV 26, 2023 2:42 PM PHT

TONY LA VIÑA, JOY REYES
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[OPINION] Kaliwa Dam and climate justice
'The Philippines has a very unique and important opportunity to be a leader in ensuring that development does not have to mean sacrificing human rights or
ecological health'
On October 17, Climate Rights International (CRI) and Manila Observatory (MO) sent a letter to President Marcos Jr. through the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources asking the President to halt the construction of the Kaliwa Dam until further investigation is made on the consequences of constructing such a
dam.
While we understand the need to augment the water supply of Metro Manila, especially since climate change will mean longer instances of droughts and the
unpredictability of rainfall throughout the year, we believe that there are plenty of viable alternatives that will not include the destruction of the Sierra Madre
mountain range, one of our last shields against typhoons coming in from the Pacific. It is imperative that the country, in creating socioeconomic policies, ensures
that no one is left behind – this includes indigenous peoples and upland rural communities, not just those living in the urban centers.
The letter that CRI and MO sent the President mentioned two main concerns that would result from the construction and use of such a dam, which, unless
suspended, will be fully operational by 2027. These concerns are human rights as well as climate change and environment concerns. They will be discussed
further below.
Human rights
The construction of the dam will have significant adverse impacts on the lives and livelihoods of the Dumagat-Remontado indigenous peoples as well as the local
community. Primarily reliant on agriculture and tourism (given Mt. Daraitan and Tinipak river’s proximity to Manila), the dam’s construction will likely lead to a steep
decline in living standards and increase in poverty levels.
Other Stories
Dumagat leaders opposed to Kaliwa Dam ask Duterte to treat them as humans
'We have a right to our ancestral domains. But instead of protecting our rights, the President and the government are the first to violate them,' says one of the
leaders opposed to the Kaliwa Dam project
Kaliwa Dam to solve Metro Manila water problems – Dominguez
The Kaliwa Dam would cost P12.2 billion to build, with 85% set to be funded by China and the remaining 15% to be shouldered by the Philippines
Dumagat-Remontados begin 9-day march to protest Kaliwa Dam construction
The indigenous people and other citizens will walk 150 kilometers in a bid to permanently stop the China-funded project
There have as well been widely documented reports of irregularities and inadequate compliance with regard to compensation (dubbed “disturbance fees”) as well
as the conduct by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) or the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) Process that is required under the law
prior to any development project in indigenous land. An essential component, for instance, of any development project, is the conduct of a public hearing, which
residents of Brgy. Daraitanin Tanay said it was not held. It is also required that the residents are told of the consequences of the project in a language that is
understandable to them, which again the residents claim was not done. In fact, it was noted by residents that the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), who
explained the project, did not present documents in the local language and, more importantly, failed to explain that the area on which they live would be
submerged as a consequence of the dam’s construction and eventual operation.
Finally, the Tinipak River, famed for its limestone formations and pristine waters, is central to the spiritual lives of the Dumagat-Remontado, who believe that the
water is sacred. Therefore, the construction of the dam “represents and irreversible and irreplaceable loss of heritage and culture” to the indigenous group.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES
[OPINION] Why should the construction of Kaliwa Dam be stopped?
Climate change and environment concerns
The Kaliwa Dam is posed to be operational within the Kaliwa Watershed Reserve, proclaimed as such by then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. through
Proclamation No. 573 in 1968. Eventually, part of the watershed was created into a National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, which makes the dam’s construction and
operation an Environmentally Critical Project (ECP) that could potentially result in massive and irreversible damage.
The Sierra Madre mountain range, where the dam is being constructed, is already in a fragile state because of the amount of deforestation that has been done on
it over the past few decades. It will be made even more vulnerable with the deforestation that will necessarily accompany the dam’s construction – it is “expected
that the dam’s reservoir that will be created as part of the dam’s operations will submerge 93 hectares of forestland” and the construction of infrastructure as well
as roads will also impact thousands of hectares of residual forests in the watershed area.
Moreover, the construction of the dam will lead to more risks of typhoons, landslides, and flooding, not just to the areas that will be directly impacted by the dam’s
construction, but low-lying areas as well, including Metro Manila and the Rizal and Quezon Provinces. This could also lead to the destruction of areas that are
crucial to farming as well as wildlands.
Lastly, it is expected that the dam’s construction will harm the ecosystem and the biodiversity of the Sierra Madre mountain range, which houses hundreds of flora
and fauna, some of which are endangered and endemic to the area.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES
[OPINION] Last stand in the Sierra Madre
The Philippines’ obligations
The Philippines is signatory to several treaties that we believe should be highly considered even before the planning and the construction of the Kaliwa Dam and
similarly-situated projects. This includes the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Kaliwa Dam is but one of the many projects that the Philippine government has. In its journey towards economic growth, it should not put into place policies
that will enable it to backslide on its commitments to place the environment and the country’s resilience and ability to adapt to the challenges of climate change at
a high priority, especially considering how vulnerable we are to the effects of an increasingly warming world.
As we all travel this week to Dubai for the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, we believe that the
Philippines has a very unique and important opportunity to be a leader in ensuring that development does not have to mean sacrificing human rights or ecological
health, and that a development that does not take into consideration those who have historically been in the margins is not development at all. This is why we
strongly believe that the Kaliwa Dam construction should be suspended until further investigations are conducted. – Rappler.com
Tony La Viña teaches constitutional law at the University of the Philippines and several Mindanao law schools. He is former dean of the Ateneo School of
Government.
Joy Reyes is a climate justice lawyer affiliated with the Manila Observatory and the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center.
The views expressed by the writer are his/her own and do not reflect the views or positions of Rappler.
Indigenous Filipinos fight Kaliwa dam project on their land
Mariejo Ramos profile picture
Mariejo Ramos
Published: March 30, 2023
Three hundred Dumagat-Remontado indigenous peoples begin their nine-day protest walk against Kaliwa Dam from General Nakar, Quezon to Manila on
February 15, 2023
What’s the context?
Tribal campaigners say they have been pressured to accept plans for a new dam to meet rising water demand in Metro Manila
Dam planned to avert water crisis in Philippine capital
Kaliwa Dam would flood indigenous mountain land
Critics urge officials to explore other options
MANILA - For thousands of years, the Filipino Dumagat-Remontados Indigenous people have cultivated their lands on the Sierra Madre mountain range. Soon,
hundreds of hectares of their forests could be swallowed by a major new river dam.
Officials say the Kaliwa Dam is vital to supply the water-stressed region around the capital Manila, but Indigenous groups say they were not properly consulted in
line with the law and the project threatens their traditional way of life.
"We went down from the mountains and walked because our rights were violated during the approval process for the dam," said Conchita Calzado, an Indigenous
elder who last month led about 300 tribe members on a nine-day protest march to Manila.
"We are the communities whose livelihood, culture and sacred land will be directly affected."
Gunawan installed nets to protect the plant seeds on his land which had been eroded by the Bener Dam project in Guntur, Purworejo Regency, Indonesia,
December 18, 2022. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Asad Asnawi.
Indonesia banks on dams to tackle water crisis - but at what cost?
Gilbert Reyes of Pangisda Paranaque poses for a photo in Manila Bay, Philippines, November 3, 2022. Kathleen Lei Limayo/Thomson Reuters Foundation
Philippines fishermen balk at land reclamation projects
Indus River in Ladakh which flows to Pakistan, June 3, 2018
Could focus on climate ease water woes between India and Pakistan?
The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), the government agency in charge of the capital region's water resources, has said indigenous
approval processes were followed and the dam is needed to avert a looming water crisis.
Residents are already experiencing water shortages in Metro Manila, a densely-populated sprawl of 16 adjoined cities.
At present, 90% of the region's drinking water comes from the 55-year-old Angat Dam which can supply about 4,000 million litres per day.
MWSS says the Kaliwa Dam would improve water security and could supply an extra 600 million litres per day.
The 12.2 billion Philippine pesos ($225 million) project, funded with a loan from China, will install a 60-metre high dam on the Kaliwa river in the mountain district of
Quezon.
Only 15 Indigenous families will be displaced from their homes as a result and the dam will be managed to prevent flooding, Jose Dorado, an MWSS official
supervising the project, told Context in an interview.
The Stop Kaliwa Dam campaign, a group of environmental and Indigenous groups, said at least 5,000 tribespeople are situated in the area of the planned dam,
about 300 of whom would be directly affected in addition to those displaced.
Three hundred Dumagat-Remontado indigenous peoples begin their nine-day protest walk against Kaliwa Dam from General Nakar, Quezon to Manila on
February 15, 2023
Three hundred Dumagat-Remontado indigenous peoples begin their nine-day protest walk against Kaliwa Dam from General Nakar, Quezon to Manila on
February 15, 2023. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Kathleen Lei Limayo
The dam will endanger 100,000 residents downstream with the risk of flooding, submerge at least six sacred sites along with 291 hectares of forests, and destroy
habitats of 126 species, according to a petition by the campaign.
Indigenous consultation 'flawed'
As climate change impacts strengthen, countries are attempting to be proactive in adapting to coming changes and looking for ways to curb climate-changing
emissions.
But many potential adaptations and emissions-cutting efforts put pressure on limited land, with competing priorities such as protecting nature and Indigenous
communities, boosting food security, mining minerals needed for the green transition and protecting land rights pitted against each other.
In some cases, the choices made threaten social unrest, especially if communities are uprooted or otherwise affected without consent or adequate
compensation.They also raise questions about how to strike a balance among competing "good" uses for land.
Under the Philippine Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997, Indigenous people have the power to veto proposed development on their ancestral lands under a
process of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
Five out of six indigenous Dumagat-Remontados communities in Quezon rejected the Kaliwa Dam plans during assemblies in 2019 as part of the FPIC process of
consultation, the Stop Kaliwa Dam campaign told Philippine news media.
Last month, the MWSS said all six groups had given consent to the project in a FPIC process certified by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, a
government agency.
Indigenous campaigner Calzado said the MWSS had misinformed or pressured some tribe members in an attempt to pick off opposition.
She said on one occasion tribal people were locked in a room and pressured to take an immediate vote, and that FPIC consent letters provided to Indigenous
people were not translated from English into Filipino or local dialects.
MWSS' Dorado told Context that there was "no truth" to these criticisms. He said the agency followed the FPIC process, but critics had refused to participate,
meaning they did not get the opportunity to vote.
Land rights campaigners have long said the FPIC consent process is often ignored or abused.
"Weak implementation" of the law means consultations are often "subverted" into a pro-forma process, said Ryan Roset, a senior legal fellow at the Legal Rights
and Natural Resources Center, a Philippine environmental rights group.
"This practice emanates from a pernicious misappreciation and trivialisation of the FPIC merely as a bureaucratic piece of paper and not as a right," said Roset in
an emailed comment.
"Not only does this disregard (indigenous) communities' decision, it also engenders division among community members."
Alternative options?
The majority of the country's dams were built on indigenous land, said Teddy Baguilat, an Indigenous former lawmaker.
The ground zero of the proposed Kaliwa Dam project, where the Kaliwa and Kanan rivers meet to flow to the larger Agos River in Sitio Baykuran, General Nakar,
Quezon, November 11, 2019
The ground zero of the proposed Kaliwa Dam project, where the Kaliwa and Kanan rivers meet to flow to the larger Agos River in Sitio Baykuran, General Nakar,
Quezon, November 11, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Kathleen Lei Limayo
"Indigenous peoples have sacrificed for decades because of these projects," said Baguilat, leader of environmental group Angat Kalikasan.
"We are not against development, but there are alternatives."
Indigenous groups have resisted plans for at least six major dams within the last decade, according to the Environmental Justice Atlas, a global database of
conflicts over natural resources and development.
The Kaliwa Dam is the best option for a major new water source for Metro Manila as it would maximize supply output but would entail the least habitat disruption
and resettlement, the MWSS has said.
"We should complete the dam by the end of 2026, because if we don't, we will have a huge water shortage," said Dorado.
Campaigners against the dam have called for alternative "sustainable solutions" including protecting existing watersheds – areas of land that collect rainwater and
channel it to waterways – and rehabilitating them with tree planting.
They have also urged officials to repair and dredge dams that have become silted up, fix leaking water distribution systems, and explore technologies like
wastewater recycling.
"Ours is a giving culture. We are willing to share the river with those living in Metro Manila," said Calzado.
"We are just saddened by the way they forced our people to agree to the dam, which will destroy the land we're supposed to pass down to our descendants."

Kaliwa Dam project pushing through – MWSS

Danessa Rivera - The Philippine Star
December 12, 2022 | 12:00am
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MANILA, Philippines — The development of the controversial New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project is pushing through, according to the Metropolitan
Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).
“It’s a go because we have already acquired all the permits. In fact, we have signed a memorandum of agreement with the indigenous peoples (IPs) of Rizal and
Quezon. These are separate because they are separate ancestral domains,” MWSS administrator Leonor Cleofas said.
According to MWSS chairman Elpidio Vega, the agency is now ready to implement the project following the release of all permits.
“The tunnel boring machine is already in place and maybe next week we’ll be starting the boring of the tunnel going to General Nakar where the dam is going to be
built,” he said.
Dumagat communities in Quezon province signed the agreement in January while IP communities in Rizal inked the deal in December last year.
However, opposing groups alleged that the MWSS and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples railroaded negotiations with IP communities whose land
would be affected by the project.
As the proponent of the project, the MWSS wants to clear out the issues surrounding the development of the Kaliwa Dam, Cleofas said.
The MWSS said it is fully compliant with the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) process.
Apart from the MOAs, the MWSS carried out additional undertakings to consider the IPs and Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) desire for higher levels of
income and employment, relocation and resettlement packages, and other benefits.
“These agreements demonstrate MWSS’ steadfast commitment to complete the Kaliwa Dam Project for the long-term water security of mega Manila and its
sincere respect for the IPs and ICCs, which are in line with the government’s social, environmental, and institutional inclusivity policies,” the MWSS said.
It said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Protected Area Management Board (DENR-PAMB) approved and endorsed the clearance for the
Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas (SAPA) application last February.
In September, the agency secured the approval of DENR-PAMB for the issuance of a clearance for the Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas (SAPA) and
the green light from the NCIP en banc (CEB) for its application for certificate precondition for Kaliwa Dam.
The MWSS said the Kaliwa Dam is essential to the country’s long-term water security and the realization of its sustainable development goals.
Vega said the Kaliwa Dam was one of the projects presented in 2019 to then president Duterte to address the water crisis.
“As you know, the most important thing to the security of Metro Manila. Hopefully with these projects ongoing, with the help of the private sector, we’ll be able to
complete them barring no opposition from left and right sources,” he said.
The controversial project was originally proposed in the 1970s. But the construction of the multi-billion water project was only approved by the National Economic
and Development Authority (NEDA) in 2014. Financing scheme was changed in 2017 from a public-private partnership to official development assistance.
The Kaliwa and Laiban Dam projects are under the New Centennial Water Source Project of the national government to address the looming water crisis in Metro
Manila and nearby areas.
The Kaliwa Dam Project is a 60-meter-high reservoir and will cover 291 hectares of the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve and the adjoining ancestral domains of
the Dumagat-Remontado communities in General Nakar, Quezon and Tanay, Rizal.
A 28-kilometer-long conveyance tunnel will be built from the dam site in Brgy. Magsaysay in Infanta, Quezon through several barangays in Tanay, Baras, Morong
and Teresa towns in Rizal.

When Man Wreaks Havoc on Nature: The Controversial Kaliwa Dam Project Explained
By Jove Moya
What men need, nature provides. Why are we not protecting it?
The mountains of Sierra Madre is home to some of the Philippines' most treasured species including the giant golden-green sea turtle, golden-crowned flying fox,
and Philippine Eagle. Its 540-kilometre surface area is brimming with slopes and curves that are essential for breaking down strong typhoons which the country
averagely experiences 20 times a year.
Sierra Madre does not only serve those who reside in its lands; people who live miles away also enjoy its benefits; in case anybody needs proof, all they have to
do is turn back time and look at 2009, the year when the infamous Bagyong Ondoy (Typhoon Ketsana) swept and ravaged Metro Manila and its neighbouring
provinces. This nightmare of a storm took the livelihood and lives of 956 people. By the time it left, our statesmen blamed the flooding on the mountain range's
deforestation. On June 19, 2012, the late President Benigno Aquino III signed Presidential Proclamation 413 which declares September 26 of every year as 'Sierra
Madre Day'.
"Typhoon Ondoy brought upon our country continuous heavy rains that caused flooding, which can be attributed to the continuous deforestation, degradation, and
destruction of the Sierra Madre Mountains, in major cities and also took the lives of many of our countrymen and women," the signed document read.
Years after this devastating tragedy, the flourishing mountains of Sierra Madre still face an imminent threat: the Kaliwa Dam project.
For some households, water remains a scarce resource. While the impact of climate change unfolds across the globe, the Philippines is expected to face longer
dry seasons causing the shortage of water supply specifically in Metro Manila.
As a "long-term” solution, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte conceived the PHP12.2 billion Kaliwa Dam Project.
In the 1970s, it was projected that because of population density, the water supplied by the 60-year-old Angat Dam will no longer be able to sustain the needs of
people residing in the Metro. The dam is currently the main water reservoir that supports Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, and its neighbouring provinces.
An estimated 85 per cent of the Kaliwa Dam project is set to be funded by the Chinese government through official development assistance formalised during
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Philippines in 2018. The fulfilment is expected to solve Metro Manila water woes by supplying residents with at least 600
million litres of water on a daily basis. In the past couple of decades, Angat has reached the critical level of water supply that results to a lot of water interruption in
the city.
The proposed locations of the water treatment facilities are in Antipolo, an area that is only 29 kilometres southeast of Manila, and Theresa Rizal, which is located
27 kilometres southeast. Besides being able to provide million litres of raw water supply daily, the government also assured that it will ease the pressure on the 60-
year-old Angat Dam.
Is this good or bad? Here's what environmentalists say
The Kaliwa Dam project may negatively impact the environment and the people who live by the Sierra Madre mountains. According to a report published by the
Haribon Foundation, the project would cause irreversible damage to the environment as the construction will take place in the Kaliwa Watershed, which is a
declared forest reserve and national wildlife sanctuary.
“While we recognise that Metro Manila has legitimate concerns on water security, these should not be addressed at the expense of human rights, our environment,
Philippine laws and sovereignty,” Haribon says. “The government has the responsibility to protect its people from environmental harm and provide long-term
solutions to respond to the needs of all its people, not only in Metro Manila.”
The foundation added that the project will only initiate an unnecessary loan from the Chinese government whose terms are onerous. "Ultimately, the debt would be
paid by all Filipinos, including those not from Metro Manila. Based on the signed loan agreement, the Kaliwa Dam project will require a loan of at least 10.37 billion
pesos running on a high yearly interest of 2 per cent, as well as an upfront spending of around 2 billion pesos from the national treasury. In a 2012 study, even the
World Bank concluded that the project was not economically viable, and could prove disadvantageous for consumers in the long run. If we fail to pay within
China’s terms, provisions in the loan, specifically those waiving the Philippines’ immunity on the grounds of sovereignty, might end up surrendering the country’s
assets and resources. Ultimately, this loan and the project consequently places our sovereignty at an alarming risk and compromises our constitutional rights."
Below are Haribon's suggested alternative and more sustainable solutions to water shortage:
Repairing and improving existing dams
Protecting and rehabilitating degraded watersheds
Exploring new technologies which will help in recycling water and
Applying and strengthening water conservation policies
The voices of Sierra Madre
The group of indigenous peoples who reside by the Sierra Madre strongly oppose the idea of building a dam in the area where their primary sources are from. The
billion-peso project threatens to displace Filipino tribes in the mountain. Moreover, the ethnic communities are bound to lose their structure and control over natural
resources; even if these groups are promised new housing, it may be hard to sustain themselves as Sierra Madre is the only source they have ever known.
“The area will be submerged and people do not understand that this Build, Build, Build and the Belt and Road Initiative, which objectively want to help people, is
actually being a road that will pave the way for the extinction of this tribe,” said Save Sierra Madre Network head Fr. Pete Montallana.
Despite numerous oppositions, the national government is still aggressive in its aim to complete the project by 2023. Today we are posed with one terrifying
question: if the ailing people, trees, and animals of Sierra Madre cannot prevent this proposed scheme,

The Philippines' capital is running out of water. Is building a dam the solution?
OCTOBER 6, 20236:00 AM ET
Ashley
Ashley Westerman
The giant white marble boulders that line the Agos River just north of the Philippine village of Daraitan are sacred to the Indigenous Dumagat people. They use the
boulders to perform rituals to ward off sickness and keep their village safe. If the Kaliwa Dam is built upriver, the Dumagat say these rocks will be destroyed to
make way for the increased water flow.
Ashley Westerman/NPR
DARAITAN, Philippines — Nestled in the Sierra Madre more than two hours outside Manila, this village is lush and green — brought to life by the Agos River,
which cuts through the unforgiving terrain like a quiet, slow-moving highway.
Daraitan is a tourist village of about 5,000, where children play in the river while the adults cook fish and fix their broken karaoke machines under makeshift tents
on the banks.
"The community is peaceful. We have everything we need here," Maria Clara Dullas, 43, tells NPR.
Dullas is a member of the Indigenous Dumagat people, who claim this area as their ancestral lands. Her family are farmers, like most in the area, and have lived
off the land and the river for centuries.
But Daraitan is in danger of disappearing, under the waters that give it and its people life.
Some 40 miles downriver, the sprawling Metro Manila area and its more than 13 million people are facing a looming water shortage. It's the result of an exploding
population, human-caused climate change and, some would argue, poor planning on the part of officials over the years. The Philippine government commissioned
the building of the Kaliwa Dam on the Agos River decades ago as part of a larger plan to help get more water to Manila. But construction finally broke ground last
year, as officials amped up claims that the dam would alleviate water shortages that could hit the capital as early as next year.
Dullas, who is the president of Dumagat Women of Sierra Madre, has been leading the fight against the building of Kaliwa Dam for years. Though the dam will be
built more than 6 miles upriver, once completed, the new water flow will submerge Daraitan and destroy precious sacred sites in the area, Dullas says. Despite her
and her community's efforts, the project is moving forward.
"It hurts us. It's devastating," she says.
Children play in the Agos River in the tourist village of Daraitan in the Philippines' Rizal province. In late April, temperatures are high and the humidity is stifling —
driving tourists and residents alike into the river's cool, running waters.
Ashley Westerman/NPR
"This is just a matter of supply and demand projections," Delfin Sespene, supervising engineer at Manila's Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewage System, tells
NPR. "We are building the Kaliwa Dam to augment our water supply in order to meet an increasing water demand."
From dams in the Philippines to sea walls being built in Norfolk, Va., clashes are playing out all over the world as people try to adapt to the threats from climate
change. The choices are acute in the global south: countries there, like the Philippines, are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather, but they often lack the
resources or civil society safeguards to make sure solutions help people equitably.
The search for climate solutions frequently lays bare the fact that there could be winners and losers when it comes to decisions about protections and
development. And in the case of dams like Kaliwa, it spotlights some shortcomings of a climate change solution that has been touted for decades.
Nature, exacerbated
The Kaliwa Dam was proposed as a project in 2012, and it's part of a larger group of water supply projects centering on the Kaliwa River Watershed that have
been in the works since the 1970s. The construction of the Kaliwa Dam finally began in 2022, three years after the Philippine government secured a development
loan from China.
Today, officials say that if the dam is not built, the water crisis will leave the capital area without an adequate water supply starting next year, with a severe
shortage by 2027 — the year officials say the first phase of the dam will be completed.
"One of the battles is the increasing population, so there will be an increasing water supply demand," Sespene says.
According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Filipinos use between 48 and 108 liters per day. So as Manila's population rises every year, the
current water supply cannot keep up, he says.
The Metro Manila area is home to more than 13 million people. Officials say the megalopolis may begin to experience a water shortage in 2024 that could become
extreme by 2027.
Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg via Getty Images
But there's another driver of the water shortage: the anticipation of the next El Niño, a naturally occurring weather pattern that has to do with the ocean getting
warmer along the equatorial Pacific. El Niños are known to bring less rain, which means "there will be less rain for those dams that impound water for Metro
Manila," Sespene says.
There is currently an El Niño affecting weather worldwide, but Philippine climate scientists and officials expect upcoming ones to be worse. Climate experts say
man-made climate change will exacerbate the effects of future El Niño events.
"The El Niño will be more intense and for us in the Philippines, that would actually mean like 46% of the country would suffer a dry spell," Angelo Kairos Torres
Dela Cruz with the Manila-based Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities says.
The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries when it comes to climate change, according to the United Nations. Along with droughts, the archipelago
nation has also experienced sea level rise, ocean acidification and more extreme weather events, such as multiple devastating typhoons in recent years.
In 2020, more than 4 million Filipinos were displaced because of the effects of global warming, the 2021 Global Report on Internal Displacement said. And soon
millions may not have enough water.
But building the Kaliwa Dam is not a "silver bullet solution," Dela Cruz says.
"It could have a role to play because it has scale. It's bankable; it can be invested in real quick," he says. "But it shouldn't happen at the expense of other equally
important issues. For example, Indigenous peoples' rights, forest and land degradation, and so on."
The Agos River cuts through the Sierra Madre in the Philippines' Rizal Province. Officials hope to build a new dam upriver from the village of Daraitan to increase
the water supply to the capital, Manila. But the project threatens the environment and people who live downstream.
Ashley Westerman/NPR
Dams and their downsides
While dams are often billed as a drought-protection measure and a renewable energy source, they have also been known to contribute to climate change — such
as emitting a lot of planet-heating carbon dioxide and methane when the lakes created by dams suffocate and kill vegetation, releasing those gasses into the air.
Dams can also intensify drought by diverting water from rivers and increase the risk of flash flooding by releasing too much water during storms. Brian Eyler,
director of the Stimson Center's Southeast Asia Program, says dams have to be built and operated in a sophisticated manner.
"Dams are just kind of Band-Aids," Eyler tells NPR. "Because the weather is going to become so much more extreme, to the point that it's hard to predict how to
design a dam for that future extremity."
But in the Philippines, people seem more distracted by other things concerning the Kaliwa Dam, such as how much the dam will cost to build and who is paying for
it.
Dela Cruz says the connection between the dam and how it could possibly be a solution to climate change is also not being made explicitly.
"I think the discussion has not matured enough to allow a more nuanced discussion about how a dam can be part of a broader resource management system in
the Philippines," he says.
Maria Clara Dullas (far right) and other community leaders of the Indigenous Dumagat community wash their faces in the Agos River. Their people, mostly
farmers, have lived off the river for generations.
Ashley Westerman/NPR
A disjointed conversation
The existence of climate change is not up for debate in the Philippines. But how to adapt to it and integrate those adaptations into the nation's development plans
is still an open, often hotly contested question — a familiar struggle that is taking place across the globe.
Maria Clara Dullas of Daraitan doesn't feel like her Indigenous Dumagat community is being included by the Philippine government in discussions or decisions
about development or climate change adaptation.
"We aren't against progress," she says. They just don't want to see their homes destroyed.
But while the national government has offered the entire village the rough equivalent of a little over $1.4 million to relocate, Dullas says she cannot imagine leaving
home.
"We keep saying we don't want to benefit from the dam," she says.
The Dumagat people just want what is theirs.
 Kaliwa Dam Project

Ang Kaliwa Dam Project ay isang proyekto na sobrang nakakapinsala sa mga taong
naninirahan malapit dito at saatin narin naninirahan sa Pilipinas dahil sinisira ng
proyektong ito ang isa sa mga depensa natin mula sa mga malalakas na bagyo na
parating dito. Alam ko maraming benepisyo ang makukuha natin dito kasi nakatira tayo
sa metro manila pero sobra naman ang mga pinsalang naidudulot ng Proyekto ng
Kaliwa Dam. Ang mga pinsalang mga bagyo, pagguho ng lupa, pagputol ng maraming
puno, pagbabaha, mas tumataas ang utang ng pinas, madaming mawawalang sacred
sites ng mga katutubo(Dumagat-Remontado), at nakaka apekto rin ito sa mga
naghahanap buhay sa mga ilog na sakop ng proyekto.

Habang nakakaawa sobra ang mga taong naninirahan sa mga nandoon nakaka-galit
naman ang ginawa ng Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) dahil ang prinesenta
nilang mga dokumento ay hindi inihanda ang mga ito sa kanilang wika at hindi
ipinaliwanag ng maayos ang proyekto sa mga taong naninirahan malapit dito na ang
kanilang mga tirahan ay malu-lubog sa tubig.

Marami na ang mga taong nag sisi-protesta tungkol dito karamihan dito ay mga tribong
naapektuhan dito, ang kanilang mga protesta ay tungkol kung paano naapektuhan ang
kalagayan ng buhay nila, mga paniniwala at mga sagradong lugar.

Maliban sa mga tao, sobrang dami rin ang maapektuhan na hayop ang konstruksyon ng
Kaliwa Dam dahil pag ito ay nabuo maraming hayop na nanganganib na ang uri nila ay
mas lalo pang manganganib, ang mga kasama dito ang pambansang hayop natin na
ang Philippine Eagle, ang mga pagong na Golden Green Sea Turtle at ang golden -
crowned flying fox.

Pero kapalit ng mga nasabing malalang kapalit ang pinapangako naman ng Kaliwa
Dam Project ay mapapabuti ang kalagayan ng mga naninirahan sa may bandang metro
manila dahil sinabi na makakapag bigay ang Kaliwa Dam ng 600 milyon kada araw.
At malaki na ang tulong na iyon kase makakaranas tayo ng matinding kakulangan sa
tubig kung patuloy pa rin natin gagamitin ang mga dam ngayon. Kaya sabi ng mga
opisyales sobrang kailangan pa natin ang Kaliwa Dam kasi sobrang stress na ang tubig
sa sentral ng Pilipinas.
Paniwalaan mo o hindi nakakaranas na tayo ng Kakulangan sa Tubig sa sentral o metro
manila.
Lubos na naaawa pa rin talaga ako sa mga tao na patuloy tuloy pa rin nag proprotesta
para maligtas ang kanilang kalagayan ng buhay at ang mga kultura na gustong ipasa sa
mga susunod na henerasyon, at sa mga hayop na mawawalan ng tahanan dahil dito.

At sobrang nagagalit ako sa mga opisyal na hindi pinapakinggan ang iyak ng mga taong
nag proprotesta at hindi man isaulong isip ang kanilang mga pinoprotesta.

Pero kahit aking ikinagalit wala parin akong gagawa sa paggawa ng proyekto ng Kaliwa
Dam kasi ako rin ay mag be-benepisyo rito at isa ako sa sobrang maraming tao sa
metro manila. Talagang nakaka biyak ng puso.

Buod ng Lahat ng Ito:

Ang Kaliwa Dam project ay sobrang esensyal sa pag supply saatin ng tubig sa metro
metro manila. Pero dahil sa sobrang laki ng sakop ng konstruksyon nito na 540
kilometer radius maapektuhan ang pag block ng sierra madre sa mga bagyo, Dadami
rin ang mga Landslides, at pagbaha. Sobra narin ang maapektuhan buhay hindi lamang
tao pati hayop rin ang mawawalan.