Jalaur Mega Dam
Calinog, Iloilo
The P11.2-billion Jalaur mega dam project is a pet project of Senate President Franklin Drilon that promises the delivery of electricity, irrigation, and water supply services to far-flung areas in Iloilo.
Critics have pointed out that the benefits of the project can be achieved through smaller projects at less environmental and social cost. But what exactly is the price the people ...
have to pay if the Jalaur Dam pushes through?
In a �Writ of Kalikasan� petition granted by the SC in November last year, it was noted that around 17,000 indigenous Tumanduk people or around 600 communities will be displaced from their ancestral lands and agricultural livelihood by the projected flooding impacts of the dam.
An environmental investigative mission (EIM) conducted by the Advocates of Science & Technology for the People (AGHAM) last September 2012 revealed that there are observed geological risks in the area where the dam�s major structures will be built, affecting its structural integrity.
The EIM�s biodiversity assessment noted at least 85 different plant species that will be flooded by the dam. At least 35 of these plant species are economically important, providing agricultural products for farmers in the area.
Jalaur Mega Dam Project News
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Jalaur Dam Construction Start End-March
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) plans to break ground on the P11.2-billion Jalaur Dam on March 28, with most of the required paperwork completed, including an exemption from the election ban on public works projects.
Under Resolution No. 9981 issued by the Commission on Elections on Aug. 18, 2015, the prohibition on “Construction of public works, delivery of materials for public works and issuance of treasury warrant or similar devises for a future undertaking chargeable against public funds” will be in effect from March 25 to May 8, the period immediately prior to the May ... -
IPs Assure Support For Mega Dam Project
Indigenous Peoples’ leader Narcissa Dalumpines of Bgy. Hilwan, Calinog, Iloilo, said they whole-heartedly support the Jalaur River Project II (JRMP II), contrary to the perception that their communities are against it.
“The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) here has reached out to us and discussed our concerns with us until we were able to understand, and it has provided for our needs,” Dalumpines said in dialect, in response to a query from the media during a press conference held recently.
Romulo Caballero, on the other hand, spokesperson of the IPs, said that their whol ... -
US Group Raises Issues vs Iloilo Dam
A United States-based human rights group has questioned the controversial P11.2-billion megadam project in Iloilo at the Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) of Korea, which is funding the project.
In a letter to the Eximbank chief executive officer Yong Hwan-kim dated Aug. 14, the Ecumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines (EANP) said it is “deeply concerned about the negative social and environmental consequences” of the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project II (JRMP II) in Calinog town in Iloilo.
The North Carolina-based network said it is concerned that the project would lead to enviro ...