LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L. Fianza
At last, the city government represented by Mayor Domogan on Oct. 27 signed with its co-stakeholders an agreement to settle once and for all a three-year battle over the plume lines and facilities of the Asin Hydro Power Plants that have been traversing private properties without due compensation.
The co-signatories are members of the Tadiangan-Nangalisan Hydro Ancestral Landowners Association, Inc. (TNHALA) headed by Roger Sinot, its president. Mayor Domogan called the compromise agreement a “win-win” solution for both sides as he sees it as the start of a harmonious relationship or partnership in the management of the AHPP.
Trouble started in 2007, the time the management contract between the Baguio Water District and the city lapsed. That was in effect for 25 years but the landowners whose lands were traversed by huge pipelines did not enjoy any form of compensation.
That was understandable since there was no law then that allowed the lot owners to collect from the owner of the electric plant, in the same manner that the city knew no law that required it to pay the landowners even while it recognized the fact that its facilities had been trespassing private lots for decades.
My guess is that the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act that was passed to give justice to tribal communities and to protect interests that have been stepped on for a long time was working. Just like any landowner who knows that his rights are now protected by a new law, the owners of the lots occupied by the plume lines and other facilities of the AHPP organized themselves and sought compensation.
As an experienced lawyer, Mayor Domogan respected the right of the organization to seek redress through the proper agency. But even with the presence of such a protective law and despite negotiations with the former administration, no solution was arrived at. In fact the landowners felt they were being snubbed and taken for granted during the past administration.
I also heard them say that the former mayor was not keen on seeing them, delegating some chores to his subordinates who cannot make decisions just the same because they were afraid their actions may not be approved by a council member who, apparently, may have other interests in mind.
In addition, the city’s designated brokers neither had faith in the special court under the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples nor believed in its actions to the extent that at one time, a lawyer even scoffed at a decision favoring an IP group. That display of mockery by a lawyer only shows that he is biased in his judgment when it comes to deciding cases between IPs and non-IPs.
And since they were being snubbed and were not getting any fair deal from the utilization of their lands by an outsider, the landowners shifted from holding peaceful dialogues to more concrete actions by padlocking entries to their properties and making them inaccessible to the operators of the hydro plant.
Both sides were again around the negotiating table until the landowners felt that they were being taken for a ride – and the dialogue bogged down again. So, the landowners were left no choice but to padlock the valves of the plume lines. But the city was quick and immediately sought the court’s help that restrained the landowners from continuing with their plan.
One time when the landowners association stopped the water from turning the AHPP turbines, the community was plunged into darkness. The association knew that it would get the blame for the blackout but it also knew that this was manipulated and the rough handiwork of one who was brokering for an electric company.
The devil’s plan was so messy rough – he did not know that the Asin folks have been there even longer than the hydro plants and before the plumes lines were laid in their backyards. He never thought that the water had stopped flowing many, many times before and no blackouts occurred unless power was shut down on purpose.
This resulted to the filing by the city of civil case no. 6911-R against members of the TNHALA that led to the signing of the compromise agreement. Both sides have agreed in principle to abide by most of the minor settlement provisions.
However what was not so clear with the TNHALA was Item No. 6 that states: “that the claims of the city for damages in Civil Case 6911-R shall be negotiated by the TNHALA before the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Baguio City…”
They said the main reason for coming up with a compromise agreement with the city was to settle the damages in the civil case. By personally examining the interests of both sides in relation to the compromise agreement, to me it does not look like an agreement after all because the main cause for filing the civil case is again presented under Item No. 6.
The compromise agreement simply throws the problem to the city council. It merely transferred the venue for negotiation from the court to the city council.
I may be lukewarm but what will happen if the city council and the Asin landowners will not arrive at a settlement equally favorable to all? How did the people who computed the damages come up with an amount when no actual damage was incurred when the water flow was disrupted?
Remember, the act of the property owners in diverting the water flow was immediately restrained by the court. The computations came out with P2million, according to TNHALA. Were the computer people mathematicians or magicians?
By the way, in the course of the court proceedings, the court understood that the association members resorted to diverting the water from the turbines because that was the choice left for them to protect their property.
The court anticipated the fact that the civil case may not be resolved soon and may become a protracted case between future city officials and the descendants of the landowners if this was not settled now – reason why the court urged the city to settle amicably with the TNHALA, otherwise no bidding for AHPP will ever take place in the near future.
Agree to disagree? The ball is with the city council. -- marchfianza777@yahoo.com
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