Bauko to NCIP: Conduct FPIC on Hedcor plant

By Gina Dizon

BAUKO, Mountain Province -- Issues on lack of free prior and informed consent (FPIC) persists even as Hedcor Inc. is already operating hydro-electric plant in this town and adjacent Sabangan.

It’s not only some people of Sabangan questioning lack of FPIC on the energy company’s operations but also Bauko.

Bauko Mayor Abraham Akilit urged the National Commission on Indigenous Philippines (NCIP) to conduct the FPIC process on Hedcor operations located within Bauko territory.

 Apparently the letter of Akilit received by the regional office of NCIP Nov. 27, 2015 has not yet been acted upon with no conduct of the FPIC process yet.

A resolution from the Sangguniang Bayan of this town endorsed said communication to the NCIP grounded on the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) requiring  FPIC on projects introduced on indigenous peoples territories.  

Approved cadastral survey of Bauko reveals that the transmission plant is located within Bauko territory.

The mayor informed  NCIP regional director Roland Calde that  barangay officials of  Otukan Norte had time and again requested audience with  Hedcor but the company’s  promise to meet with barangay officials has not  materialized.                                                                                        Akilit also informed this writer that Bauko requested Hedcor the repair of primary schools at Monamon and Mt Data since 2014.

Hedcor through liaison officer Elena Salita told Akilit that repairs shall start but this has never started, Akilit said.

Hedcor sources hydroelectric energy from the Chico River where headwaters are found at Monamon of Bauko located adjacent Napua which locates hydroelectric operations of the company.

“We are asking for the fair share of Bauko on the operations of Hedcor besides its transmission plant located within Bauko territory,” Akilit added.

Hedcor  Sabangan already began operations on its 14 megawatt hydropower energy plant.

Construction of the plant started 2013 and inaugurated May 2015.

Hedcor Inc., a subsidiary of AboitizPower Corportion started commercial operations of the 14-megawatt (MW) Sabangan hydroelectric power plant set to deliver 55 gigawatt-hours of energy to the Luzon grid annually.

A hydropower service contract exists between Hedcor Sabangan and the Department of Energy where Hedcor Sabangan was appointed as the party having the exclusive right to explore, develop and utilize the hydropower resources within the area along the Chico River in Sabangan.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) earlier approved the proposed transmission line project  of Hedcor  Sabangan  that will connect its 14-megawatt (MW) Sabangan hydroelectric power plant to the 69-kilovolt (kV) La Trinidad-Bulalacao-Mopreco transmission line of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).