Vizcaya town gets P19-M share from dam operation

By Charlie Lagasca 

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The municipal government of Alfonso Castañeda here has received P19.6 million from the operation of the Casecnan multipurpose irrigation and power project.

Rhoda Moreno, acting provincial treasurer, said the amount represents the municipal government’s share from the real property tax paid by the US firm California Energy, which operates the Casecnan project.

“It covers tax payment of the company for the second and third quarter of this year,” said Moreno, adding the US firm pays more than P171 million a year in property taxes.

The town co-hosts the $580-million Casecnan project. It is where the Taan and Casecnan rivers, the project’s major water sources for power and irrigation, are located.

The project siphons water from the two rivers toward the Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija for the irrigation needs of more than 200,000 hectares of farmlands in Central Luzon.

Built during the Ramos administration, the project also generates 100 megawatts of electricity to augment the increasing power requirements of the Luzon grid.