The watershed advocacy group Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) reminded officials of the Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. (AAII) to follow the protocols provided by the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) law in conducting public consultations.
In a statement IDIS said it has received information from their partner communities in Gumalang and Tawantawan barangays that Apo Agua went ahead with its public consultation regarding its Tamugan Bulk Surface Water Treatment project last November without informing the Watershed Management Council (WMC) secretariat or its representatives to join the consultation.
In a report submitted by the Watershed Multipartite Monitoring Team (WMMT) to the WMC, it recommended that the Apo Agua “conduct consultations in all barangays covered by the project including the IP communities with proper narrative and photo documentation to ensure proper documentary evidence and with the presence of the WMMT.”
The absence of the WMMT from the public consultations raises concerns from the watershed advocacy group on whether Apo Agua is keen on meeting its commitments now that the WMC has already endorsed the project. The group also said that WMMT’s inclusion in the conduct of Apo Agua’s public consultation was an important condition before WMC endorsed the project to the City Council.
IDIS also demand that Apo Agua adhere to their commitments to the WMC, especially in the conduct of public consultations. The presence of the WMMT during the consultations is a way of ensuring that the issues and concerns of the local residents will be properly responded or addressed by the company.
IDIS Advocacy Coordinator Chinkie Pelino, who also represents the civil society sector in the WMC, told Mirror that Apo Agua should follow the protocols as part of the environmental impact assessment.
Last year, the WMC had finally endorsed the P10-billion Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project, a collaboration of the Davao City Water District (DCWD) and Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. (AAII), a joint venture company between Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) and J.V. Angeles Construction Corporation (JVACC).
The endorsement signaled WMC has favored Apo Agua’s request for exemption in relation to the city’s largest water project in barangay Tamugan, Marilog District from the Watershed Management Ordinance that prohibits the construction of any facility inside the watershed areas unless it gets an exemption from the City Council.
“The WMC issued that endorsement which is the basis of the approval but the WMC can also recommend the revocation/cease or desist order as provided by the watershed code,” Pelino said.
She said the endorsement does not mean that they let the company do things on their own. She said they need to be more vigilant in ensuring that they properly comply with all their commitments and the provisions of environmental laws.
The WMC integrated this recommendation in their endorsement of the Apo Agua project to the City Council. Apo Agua agreed with this conditionality, hence the City Council issued a resolution of no objection in amending the Watershed Code last December to allow Apo Agua to construct its plant in the Panigan-Tamugan watershed.
IDIS also called on the members of the WMC, BWMC and other concerned agencies to strictly monitor Apo Agua’s compliance of its commitments to the WMC conditions, as stipulated in the endorsement forwarded to the City Council.
Based on the revised procedural manual for the conduct of public scoping (consultation) in EIS, community inputs take precedence before the company begins its impact assessment study. This is to ensure that all of the affected communities’ issues are properly addressed by the study.
Apo Agua general manager Cirilo Almario III told Mirror they were just invited by the concerned barangays to their respective regular sessions to learn more about the project.
He said the presence of WMC is required only during the formulation of watershed management plan which requires barangay consultation and that this will be conducted after they get the city council endorsement exempting the project from a provision in the watershed code. (Maya M. Padillo, Mindanao Daily Mirror)