The Sierra Madre is the longest mountain range in the Philippines, located on the eastern side of Luzon, running from Cagayan to Quezon. Sierra Madre acts as the natural barrier of the strong typhoons every year in the Philippines, it is also considered as the backbone of Luzon. Sierra Madre is rich in many diversities, it supplies food, water, and shelter to the community. It is home to more than 291 species of birds and 25 endemic mammals found in just the Northern Sierra Madre National Park alone! These are the many reasons why we should protect Sierra Madre at all costs. 

Sierra Madre is the home of the Indigenous Dumagat-Remontado communities; they have ancestral domain claims in parts of the mountain range. These people are the most vulnerable everytime there is a typhoon, and they face the worst of the climate change each year. 

The PHP12.2 billion Kaliwa dam project is quoted as the “long-term” solution, conceived by the administration of the former president Rodrigo Duterte for the expected longer dry season that would cause a water supply shortage especially in the Philippines. Estimated 85% of the project is funded by the Chinese government by the official development assistance formalized, when the Chinese President Xi Jinping visited in the Philippines back in 2018.This project would cause serious harm to the environment as well as the people that live within the mountain range. This project would cause so many irreversible damages to the environment, because it would take place in the Kaliwa Watershed, which is declared a forest reserve forest reserve and national wildlife sanctuary. This project isn’t only a problem to the environment, it is also an economical problem, as all of the Filipino people has to pay the dept, including the  people who doesn’t live in Metro Manila, the loan would require about 10.37 billion pesos, that runs high on a 2% interest rate yearly, even according to the world bank from a study back in 2012 concluded that the project was not economically variable, that it could prove disadvantageous for the consumers on the long run. If we, the Filipino people and the government, fail to pay off the debt within China’s terms, we might end up surrendering the country’s assets and resources, according to Haribon. 

Because of this, I want us to pressure the government to stop the project. We need to protect the Sierra Madre at all cost because this is the home of many rich biodiversity that makes our environment more livable. Haribon has four alternative suggestions and more sustainable solution for the water solution which are:

1. Repairing and improving the existing dams
2. Protecting and rehabilitating degraded watersheds
3. Exploring new technologies that can help in recycling water; and
4. Applying and strengthening water conservation policies.

These solutions can help the government look for other ways to solve the water supply shortages. I also want us to donate to our local charities and national non-profit organizations to help protect Sierra Madre and other mountains and forests in the Philippines.