CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- The Infrastructure and Utilities Development Committee of the Regional Development Council 10 has favorably endorsed the 300-megawatt (MW) Pulangi V hydroelectric power project to the council for approval subject to some conditions.
"The proponent should update the project feasibility study to incorporate the revised financial and economic analysis of the project," said Jaime H. Pacampara, head secretariat of the Regional Development Council’s infrastructure committee.
"All the necessary clearances from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Environment Management Bureau and National Water Resources Board should be secured by the proponent," he said.
Mr. Pacampara said the proponent should also secure endorsements from local government units, namely the provinces of Bukidnon and North Cotabato, and among others the municipality of Kibawe in Bukidnon and two of its barangays.
Pulangi V is located in the southern part of Bukidnon covering the municipalities of Kitaotao, Dangcagan, Kibawe and Damulog.
It is some 40 kilometers downstream of the existing Pulangi IV (255 MW) while its dam site would be located in the municipality of Pres. Roxas, North Cotabato.
The Pulangi V plant will have three units of 100 MW each.
It will involve the construction of river diversion facilities, dams, embankment and reservoir filling and commissioning.
A 20-km double-circuit 138-kilovolt transmission line would link it to an existing power substation in Kibawe.
Project proponent Greenergy Development Corp. revised project cost is P33 billion to be financed by still unidentified partners.
It is estimated to have a project timeline of 69 months from the award of construction contract to plant commissioning.
The Regional Development Council’s infrastructure committee, co-chaired by Ozamiz City Mayor Nova Princess E. Parojinog-Echavez and private sector representative Modesto C. Babaylan, found the project financially viable.
The project was originally proposed by the National Power Corp. (Napocor) in 1991 but had to repeatedly defer implementation of the project due to the power crisis and the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Napocor eventually gave up on the project in 2001 with the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act Law.
In 2009, Greenergy initiated the revalidation of the feasibility study, prioritizing hydrology and water flow tests in coordination with the National Water Resources Board and National Irrigation Administration.
Greenergy is engaged in energy and power sector consultancy and founded in 2009 by Cerael C. Donggay, former vice-president for Mindanao of Napocor. -- Michael D. Baños
Posted on June 23, 2011 10:15:39 PM www.bworldonline.com
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Anthropologist opposes making Manobo burial site as national treasure
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Giving a blow to the anti-Pulangi 5 hydro-electric plant project campaign, an anthropologist appointed to the panel of experts has strongly opposed the proposal by a nongovernment organization to declare the alleged burial ground of the Manobo tribe ancestor as a National Cultural Treasure.
In his letter to Jeremy Barns, National Museum of the Philippines director, Antonio J. Montalvan II, Ph.D. said that he is opposed to the declaration of the alleged Apo Mamalu burial ground in Damulog, Bukidnon for two reason: opposing documentary evidence that the site is indeed the burial ground of Apu Mamalu and lack of material evidence.
For these reasons, “I therefore request to put on record my opposition to the declaration of the assumed Apu Mamalu burial ground in sitio Mikasili, barangay Tangkulan, municipality of Damulog, Bukidnon province, as a possible National Cultural Treasure. Such an important declaration cannot be made when the assumptions lack unanimity and more so in material evidence. This may only lead to an obfuscation of the ethno-cultural importance and beautiful traditions of the ancient Manobo peoples,” Montalvan said in his letter to Barns dated Feb. 6, 2011. copy was furnished this reporter.
Apo Mamalu and his brother Apo Tabunaway are believed to be the forefathers of the Mindanao lumads.
Carl Cesar Rebuta of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE Philippines) said Apo Mamalu remained an animist while Apo Tabunaway converted to Islam.
And it was in Pulangi that the brothers’ path diverged.
Montalvan said “there are opposing versions as to the ancestry of the non-Muslim tribes of this part of Mindanao.”
Citing the “Ulahingan: An Epic of the Southern Philippines” by Elena G. Maquiso which details the story of the brothers, Montalvan said “it was the younger brother Mamalu who became Islamized, not Tabunaway.”
Also, in “The Ulahingan: Turning Grief into Courage,” writer Mila D. Aguilar said that “when Sarip Kabungsuwan and Rajah Baginda arrived from the west to spread Islam, Tabunaway refused to accept the new religion, but instructed his brother [Mamalu] to do so.”
Tabunaway was the elder brother and therefore the timuay or chief.
With this discrepancy, Montalvan said that “the latter [Tabunaway] then should appear to have been the subject of the proposed declaration, not Mamalu.”
Montalvan also pointed out that “in the proceedings of the Forum on Manobo Ethnohistory sponsored by the Pulangi 5 dam proponents [First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative and Greenergy] conducted at Central Mindanao
University on May 20, 2010 the participating indigenous people clearly had opposing views as to the referred ancestry. Those of the Lower Pulangi claim Mamalu, while those of the Upper Pulangi claim Tabunaway. The 22 signatories of Nov. 11, 2009, all indigenous people from Bukidnon [and hence of the Upper Pulangi], claim that it was ‘Tambunaway’ who was Islamized and Mamalu their ancestor.” He said that because of the lack of unanimity among the IPs as to their ancestral identity, “it would be divisive to claim Apo Mamalu as the ancestor of these peoples. For certain, there would be no unanimity. A declaration at this point would be open to further contestations.”
Montalvan had earlier signed the petition to have sitio Mikasili, barangay Tangukan, Damulog, Bukidnon declared a heritage site when several personnel of the National Museum visited the alleged burial site early November 2010.
This visit so angered Feliciano “Datu Mansalida” Angaan, Manobo chieftain of Damulog and chairperson of Barangay Angaan Damulog, Bukidnon, he told journalists in a press conference that the proponents who wanted the alleged burial grounds declared a heritage site “have no respect for us. They went to the burial site without even bothering to ask our permission.”
Carl Cesar Rebuta, former leader of the LRC-KsK/FoE Cagayan de Oro City Team and now LRC project development officer, said that they want to declare the Apo Mamalu burial site a National Cultural Treasure or a heritage site so that it will not be disturbed by projects such as the Pulangi 5 hydro-electric plant project.
But revered “Father of Arakan Valley” Apo Caid Lansawan, 96, the most senior Manobo elder in Bukidnon and North Cotabato, said that “traditional oral chants brought down from our ancestors by our Baylans and Timuays made no mention that Mikasili is a sacred Manobo burial ground. I have not known or participated in a ritual in Mikasili to honor any of our Manobo ancestors.”
“In short, their declaration is not in line with the truth and it is a dangerous external intervention to the Manobo culture, especially on the subject of the ancestry of the Manobo tribe,” Angaan said.
Like Lansawan and Angaan, Josefino “Datu Mampaatlaw” Gonlibo, a tribal adviser; Dominggo “Datu Takutak” Asupra, Kibawe Tribal Council of Elders (KTCE) vice chairperson; Datu Nilo Balang, municipal tribal chieftain of President Roxas, North Cotabato; and other datus also said that the claim of the LRC that Apo Mamalu was buried in sitio Mikasili has no basis in fact and in their traditions.
All said that their ancestors did not die but went straight up to heaven alive as they were raptured and became immortal.
They also revealed that it was only when they voiced their support to the Pulangi 5 hydro-electric plant project that the burial site of Apo Mamalu was pinpointed by those who are opposing the project.
Earliers, members of the Manobo tribes in the two provinces have accused LRC and the Nasabakan Tarigunay Bukidnon Dut Kalindaan (Natabuk) or Cultural Solidarity of Indigenous Peoples in Bukidnon of opposing the operation of the Pulangi plant in southern Bukidnon and North
Cotabato and are only using them as capital for funding purposes so these NGOs can continue their opposition to the Pulangi 5 hydro-electric plant project to the detriment of the lumad communities.
In his letter to Jeremy Barns, National Museum of the Philippines director, Antonio J. Montalvan II, Ph.D. said that he is opposed to the declaration of the alleged Apo Mamalu burial ground in Damulog, Bukidnon for two reason: opposing documentary evidence that the site is indeed the burial ground of Apu Mamalu and lack of material evidence.
For these reasons, “I therefore request to put on record my opposition to the declaration of the assumed Apu Mamalu burial ground in sitio Mikasili, barangay Tangkulan, municipality of Damulog, Bukidnon province, as a possible National Cultural Treasure. Such an important declaration cannot be made when the assumptions lack unanimity and more so in material evidence. This may only lead to an obfuscation of the ethno-cultural importance and beautiful traditions of the ancient Manobo peoples,” Montalvan said in his letter to Barns dated Feb. 6, 2011. copy was furnished this reporter.
Apo Mamalu and his brother Apo Tabunaway are believed to be the forefathers of the Mindanao lumads.
Carl Cesar Rebuta of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE Philippines) said Apo Mamalu remained an animist while Apo Tabunaway converted to Islam.
And it was in Pulangi that the brothers’ path diverged.
Montalvan said “there are opposing versions as to the ancestry of the non-Muslim tribes of this part of Mindanao.”
Citing the “Ulahingan: An Epic of the Southern Philippines” by Elena G. Maquiso which details the story of the brothers, Montalvan said “it was the younger brother Mamalu who became Islamized, not Tabunaway.”
Also, in “The Ulahingan: Turning Grief into Courage,” writer Mila D. Aguilar said that “when Sarip Kabungsuwan and Rajah Baginda arrived from the west to spread Islam, Tabunaway refused to accept the new religion, but instructed his brother [Mamalu] to do so.”
Tabunaway was the elder brother and therefore the timuay or chief.
With this discrepancy, Montalvan said that “the latter [Tabunaway] then should appear to have been the subject of the proposed declaration, not Mamalu.”
Montalvan also pointed out that “in the proceedings of the Forum on Manobo Ethnohistory sponsored by the Pulangi 5 dam proponents [First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative and Greenergy] conducted at Central Mindanao
University on May 20, 2010 the participating indigenous people clearly had opposing views as to the referred ancestry. Those of the Lower Pulangi claim Mamalu, while those of the Upper Pulangi claim Tabunaway. The 22 signatories of Nov. 11, 2009, all indigenous people from Bukidnon [and hence of the Upper Pulangi], claim that it was ‘Tambunaway’ who was Islamized and Mamalu their ancestor.” He said that because of the lack of unanimity among the IPs as to their ancestral identity, “it would be divisive to claim Apo Mamalu as the ancestor of these peoples. For certain, there would be no unanimity. A declaration at this point would be open to further contestations.”
Montalvan had earlier signed the petition to have sitio Mikasili, barangay Tangukan, Damulog, Bukidnon declared a heritage site when several personnel of the National Museum visited the alleged burial site early November 2010.
This visit so angered Feliciano “Datu Mansalida” Angaan, Manobo chieftain of Damulog and chairperson of Barangay Angaan Damulog, Bukidnon, he told journalists in a press conference that the proponents who wanted the alleged burial grounds declared a heritage site “have no respect for us. They went to the burial site without even bothering to ask our permission.”
Carl Cesar Rebuta, former leader of the LRC-KsK/FoE Cagayan de Oro City Team and now LRC project development officer, said that they want to declare the Apo Mamalu burial site a National Cultural Treasure or a heritage site so that it will not be disturbed by projects such as the Pulangi 5 hydro-electric plant project.
But revered “Father of Arakan Valley” Apo Caid Lansawan, 96, the most senior Manobo elder in Bukidnon and North Cotabato, said that “traditional oral chants brought down from our ancestors by our Baylans and Timuays made no mention that Mikasili is a sacred Manobo burial ground. I have not known or participated in a ritual in Mikasili to honor any of our Manobo ancestors.”
“In short, their declaration is not in line with the truth and it is a dangerous external intervention to the Manobo culture, especially on the subject of the ancestry of the Manobo tribe,” Angaan said.
Like Lansawan and Angaan, Josefino “Datu Mampaatlaw” Gonlibo, a tribal adviser; Dominggo “Datu Takutak” Asupra, Kibawe Tribal Council of Elders (KTCE) vice chairperson; Datu Nilo Balang, municipal tribal chieftain of President Roxas, North Cotabato; and other datus also said that the claim of the LRC that Apo Mamalu was buried in sitio Mikasili has no basis in fact and in their traditions.
All said that their ancestors did not die but went straight up to heaven alive as they were raptured and became immortal.
They also revealed that it was only when they voiced their support to the Pulangi 5 hydro-electric plant project that the burial site of Apo Mamalu was pinpointed by those who are opposing the project.
Earliers, members of the Manobo tribes in the two provinces have accused LRC and the Nasabakan Tarigunay Bukidnon Dut Kalindaan (Natabuk) or Cultural Solidarity of Indigenous Peoples in Bukidnon of opposing the operation of the Pulangi plant in southern Bukidnon and North
Cotabato and are only using them as capital for funding purposes so these NGOs can continue their opposition to the Pulangi 5 hydro-electric plant project to the detriment of the lumad communities.
Dam, Burial site issues Divide Lumads and Academics
The Pulangi V hydro electric project and the claim of a sacred burial site of the Manobo ancestors have divided the lumads in southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato and academics in the anthropological community.
Supporters of and oppositors to the dam project held separate press conferences here Monday to promote their advocacies for and against the Pulangi V hydroelectric project and for and against the declaration of the Apo Mamalu burial site.
Opponents of the project have found an antidote to the project by asking the National Museum of the Philippines to declare sitio Mikasili in Barangay Tangkulan in Damulog, Bukidnon as a historical site. The move irked project proponents, saying it was “baseless and unnecessarily disrupting the mediation process to reconcile the rift that developed in the lumad community as a result of the proposed dam project.”
A respected anthropologist and archeologist, Dr. Erlinda Burton, joined the press conference of those opposed to the declaration as historical site the alleged burial ground of Apo Mamalu in sitio Mikasili, Tangkulan, Damulog town.
Apo Mamalu and his brother Apo Tabunaway are believed to be forefathers of the Mindanao lumads.
“I’m not here to side with the dam project, but I am speaking out because I think it is premature to declare it as historical site because of the absence of scientific evidence to prove the claim,” Burton said.
Burton is the curator of the Museo de Oro in Xavier University.
During the general assembly of the Mindanao Association of Museums at the Bukidnon State University last Nov. 11, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who was the guest speaker, announced that the Apo Mamalu burial site will be declared as historical site, making it a prized cultural heritage treasure of the country.
“In issues like this, archaeological evidence is needed, and so far we have none,” Burton stressed.
Roldan Babelon, of Natabuk or Cultural Solidarity of Indigenous Peoples in Bukidnon, however, said that it is against the beliefs of the lumads to excavate burial sites.
Elders of the Manobo tribe, however, said that an exception can be made “just to protect Manobo culture and resolve the issue. “It is true that it is against our culture to excavate the burial site, but there are ways to get the permission of our ancestors, like performing a ritual, just we could resolve the issue,” said Datu Pendulanon (a.k.a. Rogelio Lahunay), tribal chieftain of Kibawe town in Bukidnon.
An angry tribal chieftain of the municipality of Damulog also in Bukidnon lambasted a non-government organization for allegedly disrespecting the Manobo tribe and damaging their culture. Datu Feliciano Angaan, said: “They don’t have respect for us. Last Sunday, they, along with the personnel of the National Musuem, went to the burial site to do a ritual without even bothering to ask our permission.”
Datu Angaan said that Natabuk leader Wilmar Ampuan is being manipulated by outsiders to sow dissention in the tribal community. He said that Ampuan is even a fake “datu,” a self-proclaimed leader who cannot even win in the Tangkulan barangay election. Ampuan ran for barangay chairman for Tangkulan and settled fourth.
Ampuan did not reply to text messages sent to him to get his side.
Karl Ceasar Rebuta, project development officer of the Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center, which is supporting Natabuk, said they want to declare the Apo Mamalu burial site a historical site so that it will not be disturbed by projects, referring to the Pulangi V hydroelectric project.
Dr. Antonio Montalvan, of the Capitol University Museum of Three Cultures, signed the petition before the National Museum to declare the site a heritage site.
Burton told MindaNews that she had already told the National Museum she will contest the application.
Tribal leaders led by the 90-year-old Apo Caid Lansawan, Datu Angaan, Datu Pendulanon, Datu Cuyan (municipal tribal chieftain of Kitaotao, Bukidnon) and several other lumad elders have signed a petition to be submitted to the National Museum opposing the declaration of the Apo Mamalu burial site.
A press statement from the Pulangi V Project Management Office said that they are cautioning Sen. Zubiri from making “hasty” statements supporting claims that Apo Mamalu is one of the fathers of the Manobo, Mindanao’s biggest indigenous people’s tribe.
Saying that the senator may have been a victim of bum steer from “outsiders” who do not want the lumads to be integrated in the holistic development Mindanao, a group of lumad leaders say that they would seek an audience with Zubiri, who happens to hail from Bukidnon.
Lansawan, a reputed tribal leader in the Arakan Valley, said in a statement: “Traditional oral chants brought down from our ancestors by our Baylans and Timuays made no mention of that Mikasili is a sacred Manobo burial ground. I have not known or participated in a ritual in Mikasili to honor any of our Manobo ancestors.”
Lansawan is a former school teacher who founded elementary schools in southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato. He was “pension ado” of the Philippine Commonwealth Government and sent to study education in the Philippine Normal College in Manila in the 1930s.
Datu Feliciano Angaan, municipal tribal chieftain of Damulog, echoed Lansawan’s views. Angaan said that the claim that Apo Mamalu was buried in Mikasili has no basis. He said it was not mentioned in the oral traditions of the Manobo tribe.
“In short, their declaration is not in line with the truth and it is a dangerous external intervention to the Manobo culture, especially on the subject of the ancestry of the Manobo tribe,” Angaan added.
They have maintained that their ancestors were not buried as they ruptured to heaven and became immortal. They also assert that it was only when there was opposition to the Pulangi V project that the Apo Mamalu burial site story was invented.
Rebuta said that he heard the tale of the Apo Mamalu burial site from a certain Datu Dalawraw in 2000 who said before he died that Mikasili is the burial site of Apo Mamalu. Rebuta said that Dalawraw died at the age of 125 years old.
The Manobo elders however laughed off this claim. They said that Dalawraw was not a chieftain nor did he reach the age of 125. Budz Saliling, a Manobo from Damulog, said that he personally knew Dalawraw and that he died in his 70s. “Their story is all lies,” Saliling said.
Burton said that Rebuta is not an authority in anthropology or history.
An indigenous people’s forum on Manobo history at the Central Mindanao University (CMU) held last May tackled the issue of Apo Mamalu’s burial site.
It was attended by over a hundred lumad leaders and scholars from the CMU, Xavier University and Mindanao State University. Discussions resulted in a different historical narrative than what is claimed by Natabuk and LRC.
According to the lumad leaders, it was not Apo Mamalu who ventured north of the Pulangi River, but his brother Apo Tabunaway. Apo Mamalu, according to them, stayed in the mouth of Pulangi River (Rio Grande de Mindanao) in Cotabato to be with his sister Bae Putri who married the first Muslim scholar to reach mainland Mindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan. Apo Mamalu, according to this narrative, converted to Islam and Apo Tabunawan went upstream (north) of the Pulangi as he refused to convert to Islam.
Butch Baz, Manager of the Pulangi V Project Management Office (PMO), said the campaign to declare the Apo Mamalu burial site to be declared as cultural heritage site is not contributing to the efforts to reconcile the rift caused by the issue among the lumad communities.
He added that the Pulangi V project has respected all the processes to resolve the issue and has conducted more than 200 consultations with the affected communities.
Meanwhile, the Diocese of Malaybalay, which has jurisdiction over the Roman Catholic church of Bukidnon, is trying to form a mediation group that would reconcile the lumads who have been divided by the issue.
Fr. Dan Paciente, director of the Social Action Center of the diocese, told MindaNews that they have a forum on the issue on Thursday (Nov. 18) in Kibawe with the hope of helping resolve the rift among the lumad community.
“Our priests are thoroughly studying the issue and would like to facilitate the reconciliation of the lumads,” Paciente said.
Montalvan has neither returned calls nor answered email queries on the matter as of press time.
Website:http://mindanews.com/main/2010/11/17/dam-burial-site-issues-divide-lumads-and-academics/
Author: BenCyrus G. Ellorin
Source: http://mindanews.com/main/2010/11/17/dam-burial-site-issues-
Date Published : 2010-11-17
Supporters of and oppositors to the dam project held separate press conferences here Monday to promote their advocacies for and against the Pulangi V hydroelectric project and for and against the declaration of the Apo Mamalu burial site.
Opponents of the project have found an antidote to the project by asking the National Museum of the Philippines to declare sitio Mikasili in Barangay Tangkulan in Damulog, Bukidnon as a historical site. The move irked project proponents, saying it was “baseless and unnecessarily disrupting the mediation process to reconcile the rift that developed in the lumad community as a result of the proposed dam project.”
A respected anthropologist and archeologist, Dr. Erlinda Burton, joined the press conference of those opposed to the declaration as historical site the alleged burial ground of Apo Mamalu in sitio Mikasili, Tangkulan, Damulog town.
Apo Mamalu and his brother Apo Tabunaway are believed to be forefathers of the Mindanao lumads.
“I’m not here to side with the dam project, but I am speaking out because I think it is premature to declare it as historical site because of the absence of scientific evidence to prove the claim,” Burton said.
Burton is the curator of the Museo de Oro in Xavier University.
During the general assembly of the Mindanao Association of Museums at the Bukidnon State University last Nov. 11, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who was the guest speaker, announced that the Apo Mamalu burial site will be declared as historical site, making it a prized cultural heritage treasure of the country.
“In issues like this, archaeological evidence is needed, and so far we have none,” Burton stressed.
Roldan Babelon, of Natabuk or Cultural Solidarity of Indigenous Peoples in Bukidnon, however, said that it is against the beliefs of the lumads to excavate burial sites.
Elders of the Manobo tribe, however, said that an exception can be made “just to protect Manobo culture and resolve the issue. “It is true that it is against our culture to excavate the burial site, but there are ways to get the permission of our ancestors, like performing a ritual, just we could resolve the issue,” said Datu Pendulanon (a.k.a. Rogelio Lahunay), tribal chieftain of Kibawe town in Bukidnon.
An angry tribal chieftain of the municipality of Damulog also in Bukidnon lambasted a non-government organization for allegedly disrespecting the Manobo tribe and damaging their culture. Datu Feliciano Angaan, said: “They don’t have respect for us. Last Sunday, they, along with the personnel of the National Musuem, went to the burial site to do a ritual without even bothering to ask our permission.”
Datu Angaan said that Natabuk leader Wilmar Ampuan is being manipulated by outsiders to sow dissention in the tribal community. He said that Ampuan is even a fake “datu,” a self-proclaimed leader who cannot even win in the Tangkulan barangay election. Ampuan ran for barangay chairman for Tangkulan and settled fourth.
Ampuan did not reply to text messages sent to him to get his side.
Karl Ceasar Rebuta, project development officer of the Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center, which is supporting Natabuk, said they want to declare the Apo Mamalu burial site a historical site so that it will not be disturbed by projects, referring to the Pulangi V hydroelectric project.
Dr. Antonio Montalvan, of the Capitol University Museum of Three Cultures, signed the petition before the National Museum to declare the site a heritage site.
Burton told MindaNews that she had already told the National Museum she will contest the application.
Tribal leaders led by the 90-year-old Apo Caid Lansawan, Datu Angaan, Datu Pendulanon, Datu Cuyan (municipal tribal chieftain of Kitaotao, Bukidnon) and several other lumad elders have signed a petition to be submitted to the National Museum opposing the declaration of the Apo Mamalu burial site.
A press statement from the Pulangi V Project Management Office said that they are cautioning Sen. Zubiri from making “hasty” statements supporting claims that Apo Mamalu is one of the fathers of the Manobo, Mindanao’s biggest indigenous people’s tribe.
Saying that the senator may have been a victim of bum steer from “outsiders” who do not want the lumads to be integrated in the holistic development Mindanao, a group of lumad leaders say that they would seek an audience with Zubiri, who happens to hail from Bukidnon.
Lansawan, a reputed tribal leader in the Arakan Valley, said in a statement: “Traditional oral chants brought down from our ancestors by our Baylans and Timuays made no mention of that Mikasili is a sacred Manobo burial ground. I have not known or participated in a ritual in Mikasili to honor any of our Manobo ancestors.”
Lansawan is a former school teacher who founded elementary schools in southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato. He was “pension ado” of the Philippine Commonwealth Government and sent to study education in the Philippine Normal College in Manila in the 1930s.
Datu Feliciano Angaan, municipal tribal chieftain of Damulog, echoed Lansawan’s views. Angaan said that the claim that Apo Mamalu was buried in Mikasili has no basis. He said it was not mentioned in the oral traditions of the Manobo tribe.
“In short, their declaration is not in line with the truth and it is a dangerous external intervention to the Manobo culture, especially on the subject of the ancestry of the Manobo tribe,” Angaan added.
They have maintained that their ancestors were not buried as they ruptured to heaven and became immortal. They also assert that it was only when there was opposition to the Pulangi V project that the Apo Mamalu burial site story was invented.
Rebuta said that he heard the tale of the Apo Mamalu burial site from a certain Datu Dalawraw in 2000 who said before he died that Mikasili is the burial site of Apo Mamalu. Rebuta said that Dalawraw died at the age of 125 years old.
The Manobo elders however laughed off this claim. They said that Dalawraw was not a chieftain nor did he reach the age of 125. Budz Saliling, a Manobo from Damulog, said that he personally knew Dalawraw and that he died in his 70s. “Their story is all lies,” Saliling said.
Burton said that Rebuta is not an authority in anthropology or history.
An indigenous people’s forum on Manobo history at the Central Mindanao University (CMU) held last May tackled the issue of Apo Mamalu’s burial site.
It was attended by over a hundred lumad leaders and scholars from the CMU, Xavier University and Mindanao State University. Discussions resulted in a different historical narrative than what is claimed by Natabuk and LRC.
According to the lumad leaders, it was not Apo Mamalu who ventured north of the Pulangi River, but his brother Apo Tabunaway. Apo Mamalu, according to them, stayed in the mouth of Pulangi River (Rio Grande de Mindanao) in Cotabato to be with his sister Bae Putri who married the first Muslim scholar to reach mainland Mindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan. Apo Mamalu, according to this narrative, converted to Islam and Apo Tabunawan went upstream (north) of the Pulangi as he refused to convert to Islam.
Butch Baz, Manager of the Pulangi V Project Management Office (PMO), said the campaign to declare the Apo Mamalu burial site to be declared as cultural heritage site is not contributing to the efforts to reconcile the rift caused by the issue among the lumad communities.
He added that the Pulangi V project has respected all the processes to resolve the issue and has conducted more than 200 consultations with the affected communities.
Meanwhile, the Diocese of Malaybalay, which has jurisdiction over the Roman Catholic church of Bukidnon, is trying to form a mediation group that would reconcile the lumads who have been divided by the issue.
Fr. Dan Paciente, director of the Social Action Center of the diocese, told MindaNews that they have a forum on the issue on Thursday (Nov. 18) in Kibawe with the hope of helping resolve the rift among the lumad community.
“Our priests are thoroughly studying the issue and would like to facilitate the reconciliation of the lumads,” Paciente said.
Montalvan has neither returned calls nor answered email queries on the matter as of press time.
Website:http://mindanews.com/main/2010/11/17/dam-burial-site-issues-divide-lumads-and-academics/
Author: BenCyrus G. Ellorin
Source: http://mindanews.com/main/2010/11/17/dam-burial-site-issues-
Date Published : 2010-11-17
Anthropologist nixes declaration of Manobo ancestor’s burial ground as cultural treasure
CAGAYAN DE ORO City, Feb. 14, 2011—An anthropologist who has been appointed to the Panel of Experts to helped review the proposal by a non-government organization to declare the alleged burial ground of the ancestor of the Manobo tribe as National Cultural Treasure has strongly opposed such declaration.
In his letter to National Museum of the Philippines director Jeremy Barns, Antonio J. Montalvan II, Ph.D. said that he is opposed to the declaration of the alleged Apo Mamalu burial ground in Damulog, Bukidnon for two reasons—opposing documentary evidence that the site is indeed the burial ground of Apu Mamalu and lack of material evidence.
Montalvan’s opposition gave a blow to the organization campaigning against the Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant Project that would be built on the Manobo’s ancestral domain.
For these reasons, “I therefore request to put on record my opposition to the declaration of the assumed Apu Mamalu Burial Ground in Sitio Mikasili, Barangay Tangkulan, municipality of Damulog, Bukidnon province, as a possible National Cultural Treasure. Such an important declaration cannot be made when the assumptions lack unanimity and more so in material evidence. This may only lead to an obfuscation of the ethno-cultural importance and beautiful traditions of the ancient Manobo peoples,” Montalvan said in his letter to Barns dated February 6, 2011.
Apo Mamalu and his brother Apo Tabunaway are believed to be forefathers of the Mindanao lumads.
Carl Cesar Rebuta of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friend of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils.) said the Apo Mamalu remained an animist while Apo Tabunaway was converted to Islam.
And it was in Pulangi that the brothers’ path diverged.
But Montalvan pointed out that “there are opposing versions as to the ancestry of the non-Muslim tribes of this part of Mindanao.”
Citing the “Ulahingan: An Epic of the Southern Philippines” by Elena G. Maquiso which details the story of the brothers, Montalvan said “it was the younger brother Mamaly who became Islamized, not Tabunaway.”
Also, in “The Ulahingan: Turning Grief into Courage” writer Mila D. Aguilar said that “when Sarip Kabungsuwan and Rajah Baginda arrived from the west to spread Islam, Tabunaway refused to accept the new religion, but instructed his brother [Mamalu] to do so.”
Tabunaway was the elder brother and therefore the timuay or chief.
With this discrepancy, Montalvan said that “the latter [Tabunaway] then should appear to have been the subject of the proposed declaration, not Mamalu.”
Montalvan also pointed out that “in the proceedings of the Forum on Manobo Ethnohistory sponsored by the Pulangi 5 dam proponents (First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative [FIBECO] and Greenergy) conducted at Central Mindanao University on May 20, 2010, the participating indigenous people clearly had opposing views as to the referred ancestry. Those of the Lower Pulangi claim Mamalu, while those of the Upper Pulangi claim Tabunaway. The 22 signatories of November 11, 2009, all indigenous people from Bukidnon (and hence of the Upper Pulangi), claim that it was ‘Tambunaway’ who was Islamized and Mamalu their ancestor.”
He said that because of the lack of unanimity among the IPs as to their ancestral identity, “It would be divisive to claim Apo Mamalu as the ancestor of these peoples. For certain, there would be no unanimity. A declaration at this point would be open to further contestations.”
Montalvan had earlier signed the petition to have Sitio Mikasili, Barangay Tangukan, Damulog, Bukidnon declared a heritage site when several personnel of the National Museum visited the alleged burial site early November 2010.
This visit so angered Feliciano “Datu Mansalida” Angaan, Manobo chieftain of Damulog and chairperson of Barangay Angaan Damulog, Bukidnon, who told journalists in a press conference that the proponents to have the alleged burial site declared a heritage site “have not respect for us. They went to the burial site without even bothering to ask our permission.”
Rebuta, former leader of the LRC-KsK/FoE Cagayan de Oro City Team and now LRC project development officer, said that they want to declare the Apo Mamalu burial site a National Cultural Treasure or a heritage site so that it will not be disturbed by projects such as the Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant project.
But revered “Father of Arakan Valley” Apo Caid Lansawan, 96, the most senior Manobo elder in Bukidnon and North Cotabato provinces, said that “traditional oral chants brought down from our ancestors by our Baylans and Timuays made no mention of that Mikasili is a sacred Manobo burial ground. I have not known or participated in a ritual in Mikasili to honor any of our Manobo ancestors.”
“In short, their declaration is not in line with the truth and it is a dangerous external intervention to the Manobo culture, especially on the subject of the ancestry of the Manobo tribe,” Angaan said.
Like Lansawan and Angaan, Josefino “Datu Mampaatlaw” Gonlibo, a tribal adviser; Dominggo “Datu Takutak” Asupra, Kibawe Tribal Council of Elders (KTCE) vice chairperson; Datu Nilo Balang, municipal tribal chieftain of President Roxas, North Cotabato; and other datus also said that the claim of LRC that Apo Mamalu was buried in Sitio Mikasili, has no basis in fact and in their traditions.
All said that their ancestors did not die but went straight up to heaven alive as they were raptured and they became immortal.
They also revealed that it was only when they voiced their support to the Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant project that the burial site of Apo Mamalu was pinpointed by those who are opposing the project. (Bong D. Fabe)
In his letter to National Museum of the Philippines director Jeremy Barns, Antonio J. Montalvan II, Ph.D. said that he is opposed to the declaration of the alleged Apo Mamalu burial ground in Damulog, Bukidnon for two reasons—opposing documentary evidence that the site is indeed the burial ground of Apu Mamalu and lack of material evidence.
Montalvan’s opposition gave a blow to the organization campaigning against the Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant Project that would be built on the Manobo’s ancestral domain.
For these reasons, “I therefore request to put on record my opposition to the declaration of the assumed Apu Mamalu Burial Ground in Sitio Mikasili, Barangay Tangkulan, municipality of Damulog, Bukidnon province, as a possible National Cultural Treasure. Such an important declaration cannot be made when the assumptions lack unanimity and more so in material evidence. This may only lead to an obfuscation of the ethno-cultural importance and beautiful traditions of the ancient Manobo peoples,” Montalvan said in his letter to Barns dated February 6, 2011.
Apo Mamalu and his brother Apo Tabunaway are believed to be forefathers of the Mindanao lumads.
Carl Cesar Rebuta of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friend of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils.) said the Apo Mamalu remained an animist while Apo Tabunaway was converted to Islam.
And it was in Pulangi that the brothers’ path diverged.
But Montalvan pointed out that “there are opposing versions as to the ancestry of the non-Muslim tribes of this part of Mindanao.”
Citing the “Ulahingan: An Epic of the Southern Philippines” by Elena G. Maquiso which details the story of the brothers, Montalvan said “it was the younger brother Mamaly who became Islamized, not Tabunaway.”
Also, in “The Ulahingan: Turning Grief into Courage” writer Mila D. Aguilar said that “when Sarip Kabungsuwan and Rajah Baginda arrived from the west to spread Islam, Tabunaway refused to accept the new religion, but instructed his brother [Mamalu] to do so.”
Tabunaway was the elder brother and therefore the timuay or chief.
With this discrepancy, Montalvan said that “the latter [Tabunaway] then should appear to have been the subject of the proposed declaration, not Mamalu.”
Montalvan also pointed out that “in the proceedings of the Forum on Manobo Ethnohistory sponsored by the Pulangi 5 dam proponents (First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative [FIBECO] and Greenergy) conducted at Central Mindanao University on May 20, 2010, the participating indigenous people clearly had opposing views as to the referred ancestry. Those of the Lower Pulangi claim Mamalu, while those of the Upper Pulangi claim Tabunaway. The 22 signatories of November 11, 2009, all indigenous people from Bukidnon (and hence of the Upper Pulangi), claim that it was ‘Tambunaway’ who was Islamized and Mamalu their ancestor.”
He said that because of the lack of unanimity among the IPs as to their ancestral identity, “It would be divisive to claim Apo Mamalu as the ancestor of these peoples. For certain, there would be no unanimity. A declaration at this point would be open to further contestations.”
Montalvan had earlier signed the petition to have Sitio Mikasili, Barangay Tangukan, Damulog, Bukidnon declared a heritage site when several personnel of the National Museum visited the alleged burial site early November 2010.
This visit so angered Feliciano “Datu Mansalida” Angaan, Manobo chieftain of Damulog and chairperson of Barangay Angaan Damulog, Bukidnon, who told journalists in a press conference that the proponents to have the alleged burial site declared a heritage site “have not respect for us. They went to the burial site without even bothering to ask our permission.”
Rebuta, former leader of the LRC-KsK/FoE Cagayan de Oro City Team and now LRC project development officer, said that they want to declare the Apo Mamalu burial site a National Cultural Treasure or a heritage site so that it will not be disturbed by projects such as the Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant project.
But revered “Father of Arakan Valley” Apo Caid Lansawan, 96, the most senior Manobo elder in Bukidnon and North Cotabato provinces, said that “traditional oral chants brought down from our ancestors by our Baylans and Timuays made no mention of that Mikasili is a sacred Manobo burial ground. I have not known or participated in a ritual in Mikasili to honor any of our Manobo ancestors.”
“In short, their declaration is not in line with the truth and it is a dangerous external intervention to the Manobo culture, especially on the subject of the ancestry of the Manobo tribe,” Angaan said.
Like Lansawan and Angaan, Josefino “Datu Mampaatlaw” Gonlibo, a tribal adviser; Dominggo “Datu Takutak” Asupra, Kibawe Tribal Council of Elders (KTCE) vice chairperson; Datu Nilo Balang, municipal tribal chieftain of President Roxas, North Cotabato; and other datus also said that the claim of LRC that Apo Mamalu was buried in Sitio Mikasili, has no basis in fact and in their traditions.
All said that their ancestors did not die but went straight up to heaven alive as they were raptured and they became immortal.
They also revealed that it was only when they voiced their support to the Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant project that the burial site of Apo Mamalu was pinpointed by those who are opposing the project. (Bong D. Fabe)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Lumads claim NGOs using them as Capital for Funding Purposes
KIBAWE, Bukidnon –The indigenous people Manobo in southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato provinces are claiming that the non-government organizations (NGOs) Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils.) and the Nasabakan Tarigunay Bukidnon Dut Kalindaan (NATABUK) or Cultural Solidarity of Indigenous Peoples in Bukidnon are only using them as capital for funding purposes so these NGOs can continue their opposition to the Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant Project to the detriment of the lumad communities.
“Pulangi 5 hydro project: Mga NGO nga gasupak niini walay gihatag development sa tribong Manobo. Sila nangwarta sa hinabang gikan sa gawas
sa nasud! (Pulangi 5 hydro project: NGOs who are opposing this have not given development to the Manobo tribe. They are only after the funds from abroad),” said one placard prominently placed inside the Kibawe Gymnasium during the pro-Pulangi 5 forum last Friday.
The forum, organized by the First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative (FIBECO) and Greenergy Development Corporation, tackled the points raised by the
project’s opponents and especially the advantages of the project to the lumad community.
It was attended by more than a thousand mostly lumad people from the 22 barangays in the Bukidnon municipalities of Kitaotao, Kibawe, Damulog,
Dangcagan and President Roxas town in North Cotabato that will be affected by the project.
Revered “Father of Arakan Valley” Apo Caid Lansawan, 96, the most senior Manobo elder in Bukidnon and North Cotabato provinces, lamented that
younger Manobos misrepresented the tribe and allowed themselves to be used by NGOs in opposing the Pulangi 5 project to the detriment of the tribesfolks who have been longing for development and progress in their ancestral territories.
Dominggo “Datu Takutak” Asupra specifically identified LRC-KsK/FoE Phils. as among two prominent NGOs that are only using the lumads as
capital for funding purposes.
Other datus interviewed also identified NATABUK as the other NGO using the lumad to advance their own agenda to the detriment of the lumad.
Asupra, vice chairperson of the Kibawe Tribal Council of Elders (KTCE) and a former staff of NATABUK said that it is LRC and NATABUK have a lot
of explaining to do to the lumad community.
“Asa naman ang accounting sa milyones nga proyekto para unta sa mga lumad? Ang mga lumad elders,sama nila Apo Lansawan ug Datu Angaan, nga inyong gigamit as council of elders naghulat sa inyong accounting og gi-unsa ang foreign fundsog gasto,” he said.
Asupra alleged that LRC and NATABUK has mismanaged a P250,000 grant from Green Grants for a project.
He specifically identified Carl Cesar “Cocoi” Rebuta, former team leader of LRC-CDO, as the technical consultant of NATABUK in the
preparation of its proposal for the funding agency, the name of which he forgot.
But when this funding agency granted NATABUK P1.6 million for its project, not a single centavo had reached the community, he lamented.
Rebuta, who is now project development officer of LRC-KsK/FoE Phils,however, said through short messaging service (SMS or text message): “My
involvement with NATABUK is not as Cocoi but as LRC, the legal counsel of the community.”
He also denied being NATABUK’s technical consultant.
“Maybe not as technical consultant but as reference to vouch [for] the organization. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a network of Friends of the
Earth,” he said, in reference to his involvement with NATABUK and to the funding agency Asupra forgot to identify.
But in a separate electronic mail, Rebuta said: “My involvement with the Pulangi issue is since 1999, as LRC parelagal staff and later on as
Team leader of Cagayan de Oro Regional office.”
As to the P1.6 million, Rebuta said in his email that he is “not sure of the amount.”
“If I’m not mistaken, this project with community was assisted by International Rivers Network (IRN), thru Miss Imhoff. NATABUK is the
representative for dam-affected communities in SouthEast Asia through RWESA.
Again, if this is the project with IRN, the community accessed directly this funding window and managed the entire project implementation.Financial support
to this project as part of the agreement was directly given to the community,” he said.
RWESA is the acronym for Rivers Watch East and SE Asia, a network of peoples organizations and NGOs working to stop the funding of dam
projects in East and SE Asia and to restore rivers to the communities who depend on them. RWESA was formed in July 1, 2000.
He also challenged Asupra to direct his question to the funding agency directly.
“If any support given to the people’s organization by any funding agency, meaning, the org meet all the criteria and qualification, Mr. Asupra can
directly question the funding agency. That is welcome. All the funds activities transactions are directly monitored by the funding agency,” he said in his SMS.
As to the Green Grant’s P250,000 project grant to NATABUK, Rebuta said that Green Grants “providesmall grants directly to communities.”
“In 2001 or 2002, NATABUK, an umbrella organization of 18 Indigenous Peoples organization in Southern Bukidnon accessed this funding
window for the community campaign against the proposed construction of Pulangi V dam. This was assisted by Joan Carling and also with FOEI representatives as advisors of this funding grant. The entire money as part of the agreement with GGF [was] deposited to NATABUK’s account,” he said in his email.
He also cautioned Asupra against discrediting him.
“I won’t question Mr. Asupra as an employed community organizer of the dam proponent. It’s a libelous statement of Mr. Asupra. He can be liable
on that without any proof. Mr. Asupra should face the issue in behalf of his tribe and not to discredit individuals,” he said.
But Asupra said that LRC or NATABUK do not have monopoly in representing the lumads.
“Sila man ang wala gi-angayan namo kay wala silay natuman nga pasalig sa amo,”(They are the ones not liked by our communities as they have
reneged on their promises to us.)
The Manobo datus said that LRC and NATABUKhave interfered into their affairs but have not contributed to the development of their communities
and people>
Feliciano “Datu Anggaan” Mansalida, chairperson of Barangay Anggaan, Damulog, Bukidnon, said that majority of the residents of the 22
affected barangays are all in favor of Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant Project.
Anggaan said the project’s proponents FIBECO and Greenergy will open the floodgates of development to the lumad communites in southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato provinces.
“As a matter of fact, I want that project started while I am still aliveand see the development and progress that it would bring to my people,” said Apo Lansawan, 96, the most senior Manobo elder in Bukidnon and North Cotabato province, in summarizing the aspirations of the lumads.
By Bong D. Fabe
“Pulangi 5 hydro project: Mga NGO nga gasupak niini walay gihatag development sa tribong Manobo. Sila nangwarta sa hinabang gikan sa gawas
sa nasud! (Pulangi 5 hydro project: NGOs who are opposing this have not given development to the Manobo tribe. They are only after the funds from abroad),” said one placard prominently placed inside the Kibawe Gymnasium during the pro-Pulangi 5 forum last Friday.
The forum, organized by the First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative (FIBECO) and Greenergy Development Corporation, tackled the points raised by the
project’s opponents and especially the advantages of the project to the lumad community.
It was attended by more than a thousand mostly lumad people from the 22 barangays in the Bukidnon municipalities of Kitaotao, Kibawe, Damulog,
Dangcagan and President Roxas town in North Cotabato that will be affected by the project.
Revered “Father of Arakan Valley” Apo Caid Lansawan, 96, the most senior Manobo elder in Bukidnon and North Cotabato provinces, lamented that
younger Manobos misrepresented the tribe and allowed themselves to be used by NGOs in opposing the Pulangi 5 project to the detriment of the tribesfolks who have been longing for development and progress in their ancestral territories.
Dominggo “Datu Takutak” Asupra specifically identified LRC-KsK/FoE Phils. as among two prominent NGOs that are only using the lumads as
capital for funding purposes.
Other datus interviewed also identified NATABUK as the other NGO using the lumad to advance their own agenda to the detriment of the lumad.
Asupra, vice chairperson of the Kibawe Tribal Council of Elders (KTCE) and a former staff of NATABUK said that it is LRC and NATABUK have a lot
of explaining to do to the lumad community.
“Asa naman ang accounting sa milyones nga proyekto para unta sa mga lumad? Ang mga lumad elders,sama nila Apo Lansawan ug Datu Angaan, nga inyong gigamit as council of elders naghulat sa inyong accounting og gi-unsa ang foreign fundsog gasto,” he said.
Asupra alleged that LRC and NATABUK has mismanaged a P250,000 grant from Green Grants for a project.
He specifically identified Carl Cesar “Cocoi” Rebuta, former team leader of LRC-CDO, as the technical consultant of NATABUK in the
preparation of its proposal for the funding agency, the name of which he forgot.
But when this funding agency granted NATABUK P1.6 million for its project, not a single centavo had reached the community, he lamented.
Rebuta, who is now project development officer of LRC-KsK/FoE Phils,however, said through short messaging service (SMS or text message): “My
involvement with NATABUK is not as Cocoi but as LRC, the legal counsel of the community.”
He also denied being NATABUK’s technical consultant.
“Maybe not as technical consultant but as reference to vouch [for] the organization. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a network of Friends of the
Earth,” he said, in reference to his involvement with NATABUK and to the funding agency Asupra forgot to identify.
But in a separate electronic mail, Rebuta said: “My involvement with the Pulangi issue is since 1999, as LRC parelagal staff and later on as
Team leader of Cagayan de Oro Regional office.”
As to the P1.6 million, Rebuta said in his email that he is “not sure of the amount.”
“If I’m not mistaken, this project with community was assisted by International Rivers Network (IRN), thru Miss Imhoff. NATABUK is the
representative for dam-affected communities in SouthEast Asia through RWESA.
Again, if this is the project with IRN, the community accessed directly this funding window and managed the entire project implementation.Financial support
to this project as part of the agreement was directly given to the community,” he said.
RWESA is the acronym for Rivers Watch East and SE Asia, a network of peoples organizations and NGOs working to stop the funding of dam
projects in East and SE Asia and to restore rivers to the communities who depend on them. RWESA was formed in July 1, 2000.
He also challenged Asupra to direct his question to the funding agency directly.
“If any support given to the people’s organization by any funding agency, meaning, the org meet all the criteria and qualification, Mr. Asupra can
directly question the funding agency. That is welcome. All the funds activities transactions are directly monitored by the funding agency,” he said in his SMS.
As to the Green Grant’s P250,000 project grant to NATABUK, Rebuta said that Green Grants “providesmall grants directly to communities.”
“In 2001 or 2002, NATABUK, an umbrella organization of 18 Indigenous Peoples organization in Southern Bukidnon accessed this funding
window for the community campaign against the proposed construction of Pulangi V dam. This was assisted by Joan Carling and also with FOEI representatives as advisors of this funding grant. The entire money as part of the agreement with GGF [was] deposited to NATABUK’s account,” he said in his email.
He also cautioned Asupra against discrediting him.
“I won’t question Mr. Asupra as an employed community organizer of the dam proponent. It’s a libelous statement of Mr. Asupra. He can be liable
on that without any proof. Mr. Asupra should face the issue in behalf of his tribe and not to discredit individuals,” he said.
But Asupra said that LRC or NATABUK do not have monopoly in representing the lumads.
“Sila man ang wala gi-angayan namo kay wala silay natuman nga pasalig sa amo,”(They are the ones not liked by our communities as they have
reneged on their promises to us.)
The Manobo datus said that LRC and NATABUKhave interfered into their affairs but have not contributed to the development of their communities
and people>
Feliciano “Datu Anggaan” Mansalida, chairperson of Barangay Anggaan, Damulog, Bukidnon, said that majority of the residents of the 22
affected barangays are all in favor of Pulangi 5 Hydro-electric Plant Project.
Anggaan said the project’s proponents FIBECO and Greenergy will open the floodgates of development to the lumad communites in southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato provinces.
“As a matter of fact, I want that project started while I am still aliveand see the development and progress that it would bring to my people,” said Apo Lansawan, 96, the most senior Manobo elder in Bukidnon and North Cotabato province, in summarizing the aspirations of the lumads.
By Bong D. Fabe
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Pulangi 5 Exec Hits back VS. Critics, Opposition
By Ren Consul
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The proponents of the Pulangi V hydro-electric plant project in Bukidnon province are saying that they can’t help but suspect that the opposition to the project is at “the behest of the coal industry.”
The opposition however said that what they want is just “to protect the rights of indigenous people in their ancestral lands.”
The proponents also accuse opposition to the project of doing their “noise” in favor of the coal-fired power plants being proposed in Mindanao. The Pulangi V project is a 300mw hydro electric power plant which is designed to contribute clean and cheap energy to Mindanao which is now on serious power crises.
“They are very rabid in attacking the project and yet use suave and sophistication in promoting coal-fired power plants in Mindanao,” said Butch Baz, manager of the Pulangi V Project Management Office.
The Pulangi V project is currently on its pre-development phase. It is being implemented by the First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative (Fibeco) and the Greenergy Development Corporation.
He added that the opposition “make no comment or criticism on coal-fired power plants, they just re-echo its advantages even in their website,” this time referring to some posts on coal-fired power plants in the website of the Legal and Natural Resource Center (LRC), one of the major groups that opposed the.
In an interview with officials of the LRC, they said that their intervention in the communities affected by the Pulangi V project is specific to “legal and technical services and advocacy support to protect their right to self determination.”
“We respect and will not intervene in the internal tradition process of the Lumads in coming up with a united stand on the Pulangi V issue,” said Karl Cesar Rebuta, Program Officer of the LRC.
Wilmar “Datu Bong” Ampuan,chairperson of Natabuk a Lumad federation, meanwhile told The Daily Corridor that there is currently a consensus of the tribal leaders to hold continuing dialogue on the issue and allow the conduct of the Environmental Impact Study of the Pulangi V.
“Bisan supak ako niini, ako kining respetuhan nga kasabutan,” Ampuan said.
Baz however said that the meddling of LRC and other outside groups have complicated the issue.
A thing Rebuta also accuse the project proponent. “Tungod sa ilang pagsulod, nag away ang mga Lumad.”
To this, Baz countered, “and why are they also meddling? Why are they supporting Ampuan who is now isolated in the Lumad community for walking out in a dialogue sometime last July 2010, simply because his personal stand was not supported by the other tribal leaders?” Baz told The Corridor.
He added that except for isolated cases like the case of Ampuan, there is no problem with lumad communities “which will be at the center of development in the implementation of the Pulangi V project,” Baz said.
He added that it would be interesting to know where the non-government organizations (NGOs) opposing the project are getting their foreign funding to bankroll what looks like an expensive and well-oiled campaign machinery against the project.
“Where have they received funding for said stronger campaign against renewable energy?” he asked out loud.
Baz also said that its critique, “a certain Wilmar “Datu Bong” Ampuan is guilty of sowing disinformation and is just sourgraping for being rejected by his fellow lumads in the traditional process of resolving some disagreements over the project.”
And he claimed that Ampuan himself opted not to respect the process being done by lumad communities in the affected barangays of the Pulangi V project when he walked out in one of the tribal dialogues sometime in July 2010.
“How can Ampuan be the voice of the lumads when he isolated himself from the traditional processes and he even does not know his numbers or are just using these for disinformation,” Baz said.
Baz added that the affected area based on project design is only about 3,000 hectares and affected communities only about 1,000 households which shall enjoy full compensation and relocation assistance. (with report from BenCyrus Ellorin/PNN)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Weighing Mindanao’s power problems: The case for renewable energy (Last of 2parts)
by BenCyrus G. Ellorin
Last of 2 parts
Defined, renewable energy is: “n. any naturally occurring, theoretically inexhaustible source of energy, as biomass, solar, wind, tidal, wave, and hydroelectric power, that is not derived from fossil or nuclear fuel.”
At the height of the power shortage this summer, I struck a conversation with a worried pregnant mother working in one of the coffee / internet shops in Cagayan de Oro’s Divisoria. A mother of two, and seven months pregnant, she was very anxious as her salary, very meager to start with, has been slashed to half for the simple reason that they only operated half-day because of the rotating brownouts.
That to me is the face of the power crises in Mindanao.
The 19th Edition of the Mindanao Business Forum which will convene in Cagayan de Oro on Sept. 18-19 will once again tackle the Mindanao power problem.
And I do agree that what we need now are new power plants. Some maybe surprised by this stand now, knowing that I had lead the community opposition of the last base load power plant that went online in the Mindanao grid, the Mindanao coal-fired power plant of Steag in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental a few years ago.
As memory refresher though, we were not saying then that power plants are not needed. We argued that the coal-fired power plant which they were rushing in order to fill the so called power shortage in 2002-2003 was not necessary and we argued then that there was still a window to tap clean and cheap renewable energy.
Based on 2005-2014 PEP, our energy generation will be negative compared to demand starting in 2012 and would reach a 500-megawatt deficit in 2014.
I reviewed the computations of the DOE and found out that unlike the high nine percent average GDP projection for the medium term planning period of 1995-2004, the current PEP used the average four percent GDP growth projection for the 2005-2014 planning period.
In the upcoming Minbiscon, I am sure that on the options menu to be offered to investors will be at least three coal-fired power plant.
There is no doubt, Mindanao needs new power generation plants. Aside from the fact that energy demand is increasing and no new power plant project was started in at least the last 10 years, our existing workhorses, the Agus and Pulangi hydro electric power complexes, are already aging. (Although the Steag coal plant started full operation in Nov. 2006, the project was started in 2000.)
I am sure spinners of the 200mw Conal coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani and another 300mw coal-fired plant being planned to be put up in Surigao City by Korean investors will make their pitch in the business conference. And I would not be surprised if the expansion by another 150mw the generation capacity of the 200mw Steag Mindanao coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental will also be presented, with Aboitiz Corp. as its would-be investor.
Already, Aboitiz owns 34 percent of the Steag coal plant. Aboitiz company by the way, is in an investment frenzy in the energy sector. They already acquired the power barges in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte and Maco, Compostela Valley with a total capacity of 100mw.
We should take note that the acquisition of the power barges, former baseload power plants of the National Power Corporation (NPC), by the Aboitiz-owned Therma Marine Inc. which now operates as ancillary service providers in cahoots with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), has been blamed for the almost 100-percent increase of power rates in Mindanao at a time that power supply service was at its worst.
But there should be no mistaking about these things, Mindanao really does not need those expensive and dirty fossil fuel-based power plants. It has vast renewable energy reserves with over a thousand megawatts from hydros, about 400mw from wind and unexplored potential in solar power.
In the pipeline are at least two big hydro power plant projects, the 300mw Pulangi V in the boundary of southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato and the 132mw Bulanog-Batang run-off the river (no dam) power plant in the Cagayan de Oro river. Several smaller hydro plants are being planned in Bukidnon, Compostela Valley and Zamboanga Sibugay.
Lately, non-government organizations (NGOs), among them the Freedom from Debt Coalition, have questioned the claim of power shortage in the island. It would be interesting to browse over the data set they are using to come up with such a claim.
But judging from their arguments, they seem to be echoing the arguments we were using in opposing the Mindanao coal-fired power plant about 10 years ago. Well, I do not want to be presumptuous but they owe it to the public to explain fully how they came up with those conclusions. Otherwise, we can surmise that they are just unnecessarily rabble-rousing.
I understand, they are using the argument of defective energy demand projection to boost opposition to the proposed power plants like the 300mw Pulangi V.
This is dangerous to say the least, as unlike in the 1998-2003 period when we campaigned against the building of the Steag Mindanao coal-fired power plant, we are now having load-shedding, proof of actual power crises.
Even Mayor Romy Tiongco of Damulog, Bukidnon is saying that framed on the greater interest of Mindanao, the Pulangi V project is very necessary. He also believes that the social issues levied against the Pulangi V project can be and should be mitigated. Those who know the mayor, a former priest and still a social activist even as a local politician, will have no doubt that he had thought of his stand quite thoroughly with the interest of the lumads and other communities to be affected in mind.
I do propose however for an inclusive and informed dialogue on the Pulangi V issue. It still remains to be seen if those who are opposing the project which have external support from NGOs like the Legal and Natural Resource Center (LRC) are willing to sit down to a dialogue with other power stakeholders.
I have met with officials of Pulangi V proponents in at least two occasions, during the power consumer forum organized by the Apostolate for Good Governance of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro sometime last June and in the Alumni Homecoming of the St. John Vianney Seminary and I am of the impression that they are willing to reach out to all power stakeholders in the island.
Early on, I would have to ask the opposition of renewable energy projects like the Pulangi V if they have the same argument against the proposed 200mw coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani, the 150mw expansion of the Mindanao coal-fired power plants and the one planned in Surigao City?
On the other hand, saying that coal is cheap is false. Like crude oil, it is not insulated from the volatile price behavior of crude oil.
At the height of the crude oil price rise in 2008, reaching up to U$147 per barrel, the price of coal also rose from below U$50 per ton to over U$100 per ton.
This reality should prod our decision makers and power stakeholders to seriously pursue renewable energy development in Mindanao. And for businessmen to realize that investing in renewable energy is good not just for their profit bottomline but also to their social and environmental bottomlines.
Supporting renewable energy serves the long term interest of the consumers and business which will enjoy cheaper energy rates and addresses issues of climate change mitigation.
Renewable energy simply means cleaner, healthier and more productive Mindanao.
(Comments can be sent to bency.ellorin@gmail.com.)
Last of 2 parts
Defined, renewable energy is: “n. any naturally occurring, theoretically inexhaustible source of energy, as biomass, solar, wind, tidal, wave, and hydroelectric power, that is not derived from fossil or nuclear fuel.”
At the height of the power shortage this summer, I struck a conversation with a worried pregnant mother working in one of the coffee / internet shops in Cagayan de Oro’s Divisoria. A mother of two, and seven months pregnant, she was very anxious as her salary, very meager to start with, has been slashed to half for the simple reason that they only operated half-day because of the rotating brownouts.
That to me is the face of the power crises in Mindanao.
The 19th Edition of the Mindanao Business Forum which will convene in Cagayan de Oro on Sept. 18-19 will once again tackle the Mindanao power problem.
And I do agree that what we need now are new power plants. Some maybe surprised by this stand now, knowing that I had lead the community opposition of the last base load power plant that went online in the Mindanao grid, the Mindanao coal-fired power plant of Steag in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental a few years ago.
As memory refresher though, we were not saying then that power plants are not needed. We argued that the coal-fired power plant which they were rushing in order to fill the so called power shortage in 2002-2003 was not necessary and we argued then that there was still a window to tap clean and cheap renewable energy.
Based on 2005-2014 PEP, our energy generation will be negative compared to demand starting in 2012 and would reach a 500-megawatt deficit in 2014.
I reviewed the computations of the DOE and found out that unlike the high nine percent average GDP projection for the medium term planning period of 1995-2004, the current PEP used the average four percent GDP growth projection for the 2005-2014 planning period.
In the upcoming Minbiscon, I am sure that on the options menu to be offered to investors will be at least three coal-fired power plant.
There is no doubt, Mindanao needs new power generation plants. Aside from the fact that energy demand is increasing and no new power plant project was started in at least the last 10 years, our existing workhorses, the Agus and Pulangi hydro electric power complexes, are already aging. (Although the Steag coal plant started full operation in Nov. 2006, the project was started in 2000.)
I am sure spinners of the 200mw Conal coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani and another 300mw coal-fired plant being planned to be put up in Surigao City by Korean investors will make their pitch in the business conference. And I would not be surprised if the expansion by another 150mw the generation capacity of the 200mw Steag Mindanao coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental will also be presented, with Aboitiz Corp. as its would-be investor.
Already, Aboitiz owns 34 percent of the Steag coal plant. Aboitiz company by the way, is in an investment frenzy in the energy sector. They already acquired the power barges in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte and Maco, Compostela Valley with a total capacity of 100mw.
We should take note that the acquisition of the power barges, former baseload power plants of the National Power Corporation (NPC), by the Aboitiz-owned Therma Marine Inc. which now operates as ancillary service providers in cahoots with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), has been blamed for the almost 100-percent increase of power rates in Mindanao at a time that power supply service was at its worst.
But there should be no mistaking about these things, Mindanao really does not need those expensive and dirty fossil fuel-based power plants. It has vast renewable energy reserves with over a thousand megawatts from hydros, about 400mw from wind and unexplored potential in solar power.
In the pipeline are at least two big hydro power plant projects, the 300mw Pulangi V in the boundary of southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato and the 132mw Bulanog-Batang run-off the river (no dam) power plant in the Cagayan de Oro river. Several smaller hydro plants are being planned in Bukidnon, Compostela Valley and Zamboanga Sibugay.
Lately, non-government organizations (NGOs), among them the Freedom from Debt Coalition, have questioned the claim of power shortage in the island. It would be interesting to browse over the data set they are using to come up with such a claim.
But judging from their arguments, they seem to be echoing the arguments we were using in opposing the Mindanao coal-fired power plant about 10 years ago. Well, I do not want to be presumptuous but they owe it to the public to explain fully how they came up with those conclusions. Otherwise, we can surmise that they are just unnecessarily rabble-rousing.
I understand, they are using the argument of defective energy demand projection to boost opposition to the proposed power plants like the 300mw Pulangi V.
This is dangerous to say the least, as unlike in the 1998-2003 period when we campaigned against the building of the Steag Mindanao coal-fired power plant, we are now having load-shedding, proof of actual power crises.
Even Mayor Romy Tiongco of Damulog, Bukidnon is saying that framed on the greater interest of Mindanao, the Pulangi V project is very necessary. He also believes that the social issues levied against the Pulangi V project can be and should be mitigated. Those who know the mayor, a former priest and still a social activist even as a local politician, will have no doubt that he had thought of his stand quite thoroughly with the interest of the lumads and other communities to be affected in mind.
I do propose however for an inclusive and informed dialogue on the Pulangi V issue. It still remains to be seen if those who are opposing the project which have external support from NGOs like the Legal and Natural Resource Center (LRC) are willing to sit down to a dialogue with other power stakeholders.
I have met with officials of Pulangi V proponents in at least two occasions, during the power consumer forum organized by the Apostolate for Good Governance of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro sometime last June and in the Alumni Homecoming of the St. John Vianney Seminary and I am of the impression that they are willing to reach out to all power stakeholders in the island.
Early on, I would have to ask the opposition of renewable energy projects like the Pulangi V if they have the same argument against the proposed 200mw coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani, the 150mw expansion of the Mindanao coal-fired power plants and the one planned in Surigao City?
On the other hand, saying that coal is cheap is false. Like crude oil, it is not insulated from the volatile price behavior of crude oil.
At the height of the crude oil price rise in 2008, reaching up to U$147 per barrel, the price of coal also rose from below U$50 per ton to over U$100 per ton.
This reality should prod our decision makers and power stakeholders to seriously pursue renewable energy development in Mindanao. And for businessmen to realize that investing in renewable energy is good not just for their profit bottomline but also to their social and environmental bottomlines.
Supporting renewable energy serves the long term interest of the consumers and business which will enjoy cheaper energy rates and addresses issues of climate change mitigation.
Renewable energy simply means cleaner, healthier and more productive Mindanao.
(Comments can be sent to bency.ellorin@gmail.com.)
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