KALIWA DAM WILL DESTROY SIERRA MADRE BIODIVERSITY

The multi-billion peso Kaliwa Dam Project will not only have disastrous consequences for people's livelihoods, but it would also destroy the habitats of thousands of rare animal species in the Sierra Madre mountain forests, including the Critically Endangered Philippine Eagle.

This project also violates so many rules that it should have been declared unlawful from the start. Unfortunately, despite widespread resistance from indigenous peoples, environmentalists, and local groups, the project continues to move forward in secrecy.

We oppose the Kaliwa Dam Project for the following reasons:

• Thousands of indigenous peoples will be displaced as a result of the project, which breaches legal processes. The proposed development location would be located within an ancestral territory that is home to at least 5,000 Dumagat-Remontados.
• The Sierra Madre and its biodiversity will suffer long-term, irreparable environmental harm as a result of the project.
• The project will begin with a loan from China with burdensome and unneeded stipulations.
• All Filipinos, including those outside of Metro Manila, will be responsible for repaying the debt.
• Despite the widely publicized Freedom of Information E.O. No. 2, series of 2016, NEDA has kept the data on the Kaliwa dam hidden by using the term "confidential."
• The Kaliwa dam, which will be built on the Infanta Fault, will be a "sword hanging over the heads" of 100,000 Kaliwa River residents. The flash flood of 2004, which killed 1,000 people and ruined over a million pesos' worth of property, is forever etched in their minds.
• At least 126 species will lose their native home and 300 hectares of wooded land in the Sierra Madre would be permanently flooded.
• Climate change and its consequences have become the "new normal" that can no longer be ignored, yet we are unaware of any research on climate change and the Kaliwa dam.

The Sierra Madre is known as Luzon's backbone for a reason. Its true job is to act as nature's barrier against the wrath of super typhoons and storm surges. It stretches down the eastern coast of Luzon like a spine, holding the country upright.

We, the participants of STOP Kaliwa Dam petition, are deeply worried about the government's attempt to use the "water crisis" in Metro Manila to hasten and justify the construction of the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project.

As a result, we urge that the President of the Philippines, as well as all other government authorities, rescind the Kaliwa Dam Project. We feel that this proposal would not only fail to solve the problem, but will further worsen the situation in the Philippines. Various experts have proposed alternative water solutions that are both cheaper and more sustainable (for example, watershed rehabilitation, repairing and strengthening existing dams and water distribution infrastructure, and water conservation measures).

For further details, you can watch ta video from save sierra madre Philippines here:

STOP Kaliwa Dam - This video is a compilation of news and documentary segments from GMA News, CNN Philippines, and Al Jazeera, which are being used for advocacy purposes only.