Ibaloi folks intervene in Asin hydro case to protect lands

 A tale of ‘deception, bullying and lies’ 

By Atty. Alfred A. Dizon Jr.

TUBA, Benguet – Folks of this town have intervened in a court case between the City Government of Baguio and Kaltimex, a purported power firm over the dispute of the Asin hydros located in this town. 
    The Americans built a hydro-electric plant complex located in Barangays Tadiangan and Nangalisan in the 1920’s comprised of three hydro-plants and a system of pipes which intervenors said were sitting on their ancestral lands. 
      When the Americans relinquished control of the Philippine Archipelago to the administration of Manuel Roxas in 1945, they left the hydro system in the area.
      The City Government of Baguio later claimed ownership over the hydro plants.
      The landowners are members of the indigenous Ibaloy tribe.
     On Oct. 29, 1997, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act or Republic Act No 8371 was enacted in recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples like the landowners.
     The IPRA adopted the concept of “free and prior informed consent” (FPIC) as a means to protect indigenous rights and interests and give them a voice in matters that affect them.
     FPIC in this context requires that indigenous communities, like the Asin intervenors, be provided with adequate and accessible information, and that consensus is determined in accordance with indigenous peoples’ customary laws and practices and free from any external manipulation or coercion.
     The IPRA requires FPIC prior to the extraction and or/utilization of resources from indigenous ancestral domains and lands.
    When implemented effectively, FPIC represents a critical tool in the realization of indigenous self- determination, promoting community participation in decision-making and mitigating the risk of social conflict around natural resource projects.
    According to the landowners in Nangalisan and Tadiangan, they fought many opportunists and speculators over the years including previous administrations of the City of Baguio, speakers of electric cooperatives  declaring so-called humongous funding from unknown investors, so-called international companies barely less than two years in existence and unscrupulous contractors with massive political connections.
    They said despite the bullying, lies and strategy of divide-and-conquer, the landowners and the people of Tuba (where the hydro plants/pipes are located) remained resilient.
    The above entities/individuals, they said, took advantage of the landowners’ lack of legal understanding of the intricacies of law and complexities of administrative regulations.
    As time went by, the residents of the area became more knowledgeable of the law and fought back.
    Using the concept of Freedom of Voluntary Association, the landowners affected by the hydro plants within the communities of Tadiangan and Nangalisan created a juridical entity to manage and protect the rights of the people.
    This Juridical entity-- they called it the Tadiangan-Nangalisan Hydro Ancestral Landowners Association with Roger Sinot Sr. as president.
    On October 27, 2010, the residents entered into a compromise agreement with the City Government of Baguio.
Among many other conditions included thereof, they agreed that in the event that the operation and management of the Asin Hydro Plants will be procured through bidding, the landowners shall be entitled to a representative in the Bids and Awards Committee to witness the bidding process.
    The Ibaloi intervenors said a moment of peace came to their communities for a couple of years. Unbeknownst to them, there was an alleged conspiracy brewing to take over the control and possession of the hydro plants and pipe complex without the required Free and Prior Informed Consent of the affected indigenous peoples and the landowners, which the same consent was required in the compromise agreement mentioned above.
    This conspiracy, according to the TNHALA, included Kaltimex,  purportedly a corporation engaged in utilization and management of hydro plants and the City of Baguio as a bidder.
On Feb. 28, 2016, Kaltimex submitted an amended-by-laws.
    As appearing in the document, the members of the board were Oscar A. Torralba, Ronald A. Vicencio, Francis Tuliao, Krishan Kumar Ralhan and Charlie C. Yalung.
    Despite the decision of the Regional Trial Court directing that TNHALA should have a representative with the Bids and Awards Committee, the City Government allegedly conducted a bidding without calling any representative from TNHALA.
Sometime 2014, news circulated in Baguio City and Tuba about a company called “Kaltimex” and the plan to take over the Asin Hydro Plant system.
    The landowners and other community leaders were alarmed, but they opted for caution before taking any action.
According to them, any takeover is impossible without the participation of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the Department of Energy. 
    They were able to secure a copy of the Notice to Proceed (the bidding process) signed by then Baguio City Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan. TNHALA also observed that the city government complained because of the failure of Kaltimex to execute the agreement.
    Sometime October 2018, news broke out that the City Government of Baguio City filed a complaint against Kaltimex before the Regional Trial Court of Baguio City represented by its then Mayor Domogan for Rescission/Cancellation of Contract with Damages of the agreement between the city and Kaltimex.
    TNHALA was able to get a copy of the complaint and discovered the following: a) Kaltimex is not the sole entity dealing with the City Government of Baguio. Kaltimex teamed up with China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd (Philippine Branch) and a Davao-based company called FFJJ Construction; b) On January 28, 2015, Atty. Pangulayan together with Junuario R. Aquino, Krishan Kumar Ralhan, Jayashree Ralhan, Ebenezer A. Cordova, Delia Fernandez and Maria Christina Mendoza executed a Board Resolution authorizing Kaltimex Chairman  Krishan Kumar Ralhan to negotiate and enter into agreement with City of Baguio for “… the rehabilitation, upgrading, expansion, operation and management of the Asin Hydro Plants”; c)         The Memorandum of Agreement was entered into by and between the City Government of Baguio represented by Mayor Mauricio Domogan and Kaltimex Energy Philippines Inc. represented by Krishan Kumar Ralhan and the date of said Agreement is January 30, 2015;
    In 2016 onwards, Kaltimex continued to deal with the City Government of Baguio through defendants Oscar A. Torralba, Ronald A. Vicencio, Francis Tuliao, Krishan Kumar Ralhan and Charlie C. Yalung.
    Furthermore, the City Government alleged in the complaint that Kaltimex submitted a spurious and forged document purportedly issued by the HSBC (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking, Philippine Branch).
    It was reportedly found out that the letter from HSBC certifying that Kaltimex has an account with them was spurious and forged.
    This fact was certified by HSBC’s legal counsel Balgos, Gumaro
u, Faller, Tan and Javier law offices through lawyer Preciousa L. Gumaru, in her Certification issued on July 9, 2018, where she stated that she “reiterate and affirm that as relayed to us by our client, HSBC, it has gone over its record pertaining to the alleged special account no 027044858195… in the name of Kaltimex Energy Philippines, Inc/Ancelmo Nolasco and that the latter certification dated February 28, 2014 supposedly issued by our client is spurious and a falsified document”.
Kaltimex submitted the alleged said falsified document to the City Government of Baguio so as to represent that their company (Kaltimex) has an outstanding balance of US $ 50,001,715.00.
    Such declaration, as mentioned above, was however disproved by HSBC’s legal counsel. 
    In using said document in the government bidding process, Kaltimex allegedly committed use of falsified documents.
    It was also discovered that a falsified Special Power of Attorney was submitted.
    It  was purportedly executed by Osmena Palanggalan, the proprietor and general manager of FFJJ Construction, a Davao Based Construction company, supposedly appointing Engr. Jonathan G. Liscano, a project manager of JJFF, to transact, follow-up, negotiate, attend conferences and meetings, sign documents with, to transact with Kaltimex.
Said Special Power of Attorney was vehemently denied by Jonathan Liscano.
    Liscano  declared in his answer to the complaint filed by the city government of Baguio that his signature in the SPA dated June 3, 2015 was falsified or a forgery; that he never appeared before Notary Public Angela Librado in executing the said Special Power of Attorney (SPA); that the notarial form was defective, for being a mere “jurat” and not an acknowledgment which is necessary for contracts; that there are “no witnesses” in the said SPA; and that he never consented to terms and statements contained in the said SPA.
    From Liscano’s denials himself, the SPA dated June 3, 2014 was deemed a falsification and Osmena’s signature therein a forgery.
    Examining the said SPA, the notarial act was considered defective for being a mere “jurat” and not an “Acknowledgment” required in Contracts.
    Further there were no witnesses in its execution.
    While it is true that parties may presume the authenticity and due execution of a notarized document, if the notarization must be regular on its face.
    TNHALA is now claiming that the compromise agreement between the City of Baguio and Kaltimex, ie., to management and utilization of the hydroplants in Tuba, that is about to be decided by the trial court would never attain finality considering, among others, that TNHALA was not given the chance to participate in the bidding process, that Kaltimex, in representing CAMC and JJFJ Construction, could never represent the two latter companies in the compromise agreement executed between the city and Kaltimex because of the “falsified documents” Kaltimex submitted.
    From this series of events, TNHALA decided to intervene in the case between the City of Baguio and Kaltimex to protect their indigenous and ancestral lands.
    The TNHALA have tapped the services of Camtugan & Partners Law Office in their legal cases over the Asin hydros among other issues.