Dumagat-Remontados end march, protest vs. Kaliwa Dam continues

Instead of Malacañang, the nine-day protest march of an indigenous people (IP) group opposing the construction of Kaliwa Dam ended in Mendiola, Manila, Cedric Castillo reported on “24 Oras” on Thursday.

Around 300 members of the Dumagat-Remontado tribe from General Nakar in Quezon arrived in Mendiola at around 5 p.m. but the swarm of police securing the area blocked them from reaching the Palace.

Earlier in the day, the IP group staged a rally before the offices of the  Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) after attending a mass at the Ateneo de Manila University.

They also denied allegations they are not members of the tribes in Tanay, Rizal, and General Nakar that would be affected by the reservoir project.

“Kahit tingnan sa community yung mga naritong mga nakabihis, katutubo yan lahat. Bawal sa aming kultura 'yung magsuot ng mga ganitong kasuotan kung hindi ka katutubo dahil iyon ay isang paglabag sa aming customary law o kultura,” said tribal leader Marcelino Tena.

(Even if you look at them when in the community, everyone here is our member. It is prohibited in our culture to wear our clothing if they’re not IPs because that is a violation of our customary law.)

Upon its completion, the Kaliwa Dam is expected to supply 600 million liters of water in Metro Manila daily.

GMA Integrated News reached out to the MWSS but it has yet to respond.

However, the agency on Wednesday said it has taken into account the project’s effect on the IPs and the environment during the initial planning.

“Tumataas po ang populasyon ng Metro Manila gayundin ang ating service areas katulad ng Cavite, Bulacan at Rizal. Kailangan na natin siguraduhin na hindi magkulang ang supply natin ng tubig at ito ang isang option para masiguro namin na ang pangangailangan ay matugunan ng MWSS,” said MWSS Site Management Operations Department Division manager Jonathan Lamug.

(The population in Metro Manila and our service areas in Cavite, Bulacan, and Rizal are growing. We need to ensure we have ample water supply and one of our solutions is this project.)—Sundy Locus/LDF, GMA Integrated News