More Kalinga tribes give their consent to geothermal exploration

TABUK, Philippines — Barring any impediments in the enforcement of geothermal power exploration in Kalinga province, local executives are optimistic that the recent signing of an energy project here will provide a big natural power source for the country. Recently, the Department of Energy (DoE) has approved a major geothermal project in the towns of Pasil, Tinglayan and Lubuagan. The exploration will cover about 27,000 hectares and will be jointly explored by Aragorn Power and Energy Corp. (APEC) and Guidance Management Corp. (GMC). Natividad Sugguiyao, provincial director of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), said that the geothermal service contract (GSC), was signed recently by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes originally covers only the towns of Tinglayan and Lubuagan but the exploration will be include Pasil once all the affected tribes in the ancestral domains will give their free and prior informed consent (FPIC) to the activity. According to The Voice of Kalinga blogspot, however, the tribes of Balatoc, Colayo, Dalupa, Guinaang and Dangtalan in Pasil municipality have signed separate FPIC documents and memoranda of agreement. The blogspot said also covered by the exploration area are the ancestral domains of the Uma tribe in Lubuagan town and Dananao, Tulgao, Sumadel, Bangad and Tinglayan in the municipality of Tinglayan. It cited a source as saying that the Tulgao tribe has already “out-rightly rejected the proposal due to fears that the exploration will affect their water sources while negotiations are still underway for the consent of the other tribes." Sugguiyao explained that some tribes were still in the process of reviewing the details of FPIC. “The residents in the affected areas just want to make sure that the project will not have adverse effect on their community, they haven’t totally rejected the idea," she said. Pasil Mayor James Edduba said the geothermal exploration is so far the biggest investment made by any group in the province and is expected to produce geothermal energy for the next 50 years. - GMANews.TV