Aurora, Vizcaya folk press share in Casecnan power plant revenues

A tribal group in Cagayan Valley held a protest rallies Thursday   at the offices of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and House of Representatives to convince concerned agencies and Malacañang to act on their right to proceeds and water energy projects in their ancestral domain.

Electing to diplomatically resolve the nagging issue of their right to ancestral domain, the Bugkalot tribe in Nueva Vizcaya, Aurora, and Quirino provinces urged President Aquino to put an end to their 15-year misery as the indigenous group has been denied their mandated percentage from the billions of pesos earned for the diversion of water from the Casecnan and Taan Rivers to Pantabangan Dam which is used for hydro-electric power purposes.

In a press conference in Quezon City, BICC chieftain Mario Rosario Camma, who is also mayor of Nagtipunan in Quirino aired their grievance saying they were apparently given the run-around in their quest to for the lawful claim of a certain percentage in the operation of the hydro-electric plant.

He insisted that his group has the constitutional basis to claim not only the proceeds from the water and energy project run by California Energy Casecnan Water and Energy Inc. (CalEnergy) but also declare just compensation for the environment damage that the community will incur with CalEnergy’s continued operation.

Showing photos and film clips of the Casecnan River in the 1950s, the waterway was rich in aqua-agriculture resources made famous with the bountiful catch of the famous “Ludong’’ fish.

“Ang Ludong’ ay madali lamang nahuhuling mga katribu namin dati gamit and sibat.Ngayon, tuyo na ang ilog at puno lamang ng bato at pebbles (The Ludong fish could easily be caught by our tribesmen using spears. But now, the river has now dried up where only rocks and pebbles are abundant),” Camma said.

Camma who is also the overall chieftain of the Bugkalot Confederation (Aurora, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya) said that one kilo of Ludong fish sells for P3,000.

With the President’s term ending in six-months, Camma remains optimistic that Malacañang will heed their urgent call for justice with the hope that their “tribe’s years of anguish and pain will finally end.