STATEMENT: Save Davao Region's Rivers!

SAVE DAVAO REGION'S RIVERS
RESIST PSEUDO-DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS GEARED FOR CORPORATE PROFIT AND CAPITALIST PLUNDER!

Statement of PANALIPDAN – Southern Mindanao
for the International Day of Action for Rivers

March 14, 2009

On the International Day of Action for Rivers, PANALIPDAN*- Southern Mindanao enjoins the people of Davao to join hands and collectively assert the peoples' rights to water resources and unite in the protection of our rivers and water systems.

Today our rivers are threatened with the encroachment of projects implemented under the guise of development and progress that are crafted within the anti-people, and anti-environment framework of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) that by all means espouses and facilitates globalization policies at the expense of the Filipino people's land, resources and food security.

The influx of large-scale foreign mining, small scale mining funded by foreign corporations, hydro-power and mega dams, mono-crop and agro-plantations, and other foreign investments that are geared for capitalist profits have caused irreparable damages on our rivers, water systems, forests and agricultural lands as well as on the people.

In Davao City, the Talomo-Lipadas rivers are in a critical state, contaminated with toxic chemicals after several years of aerial spraying and unregulated use of fertilizers within the surrounding banana plantations in the area. Traces of lead and nitrate have been found in these rivers which is Davao City's main source of the world-famed “dumoy” water, hailed as the second cleanest water in the world.

Also threatened for the construction of a hydro-power project is the Tamugan – Panigan Watershed Areas in Davao City. HEDCOR Inc., a multi-million company owned by Aboitiz, plans to generate electricity and targets an annual income of Php 6 Billion from the project by diverting the Tamugan and Panigan rivers alarming Davao City residents due to consequences that that the project will pose on the 40,000 – hectare watershed area in the city.

The same company is now constructing a 42.5 megawatt hydropower plant in the sacred ancestral grounds of the Tagabawa – Bagobo lumads and has by far caused the destruction of hectares of coffee and vegetable farms. There is no measure of the dam's impact on the peace and harmony and cultural heritage of the Bagobo tribes.

Meanwhile in Davao Oriental, the mining operations funded by Skynix Holdings Inc. through the seven Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) of five companies posing as small scale pose ominous dangers on the Sumlog Watershed which provides irrigation to more than 4,000 hectares of ricefields in Banay – Banay and Lupon towns. Aside from the Sumlog Watershed, these mining operations also threaten the Davao Gulf, the Kingking River, the Caraga River and Tagum Rivers.

The BHP-Billiton-backed Pujada Nickel Project also spells devastation to the farmers, fisherfolks and indigenous peoples who are much dependent on two protected areas, the Pujada Bay and Mt. Hamiguitan which are home to various endangered and endemic water and land species.

With this, we join the millions of people in the world in decrying the onslaught of destructive projects that ruin our rivers and our lives.

The following are the current actions being waged by the different communities in Davao Region for the defense and protection of Davao's threatened rivers and water systems.

• Campaign against the mining operations of Jake Mining, Oro East Mining, Southern Horizon Mining, Eastern Horizon and Viclode Mining under the umbrella of Chinese mining firm Skynix Holdings;
• Campaign against mining giant BHP Billiton;
• Campaign against HEDCOR's hydro-power projects in Sibulan, Sta. Cruz and Tamugan – Panigan – Suawan, Marilog District;
• Campaign for the protection of the Talomo – Lipadas Rivers by the Obo-Klata indigenous peoples in Brgy. Manuel Guianga, Davao City

Water for Life, Not for Profit!

SAVE DAVAO REGION'S RIVERS!

RESIST PSEUDO-DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS GEARED FOR CORPORATE PROFITEERING AND CAPITALIST PLUNDER!

* PANALIPDAN is a Visayan word meaning “to defend.”

Francis Morales
Spokesperson
PANALIPDAN – Southern Mindanao