Asin hydros

Just to recall December 2006, the residents of Tubas Tadiangan and Nangalisan threatened to close the
intake valves of the Asin hydro plants unless the Baguio city government makes repairs on the leaking
pipelines. We had o close the intake valves to prevent further damages to our farms by flooding caused by the
leaking pipes. A letter signed by the residents was sent to the city council presided then by acting vice mayor
Leandro Yangot Jr., the latter hammering out the need to first address the landowners concerns before the city
decides on operating the hydros. Hedcors operating contract expired on the 26th of that month and it sent
word to city officials that it was preparing to abandon the plants in the absence of a new contract with the city.
Prior to the take-over of the city to manage the hydros, we had been seeking mediation from the NCIP,
feeling hopeless and left out because of the non-action by the city government of our interests. We signed a
formal letter sent to the NCIP for claims and payment of properties occupied and traversed by the hydro plants
facilities. In that letter we wrote: May we seek the assistance of your office as our last diplomatic resort or hope
to hammer ouit the city government of our claims. We of Ibaloi and Bago tribes of Tuba have been asking for
the payments of rentals of our properties that are affected by the city government So on the 26th of
December, three hours right after the turn-over of the hydro plants from the Hedcor to the city, residents
diverted the water from the intake to the river. The hydro plant shut off and there was no electric power in the
area for three days.
The affected landowners composed of around 50 members gathered to elect their set of officers of
which I was chosen as president and Ms. Olga Dangwa becoming vice president. The group was later called
Tadiangan-Nangalisan Hydro Ancestral Land Association (TNHALA). Our group trooped to the municipal and
provincial civil registrars and found that the city government did not have papers to prove it owned the lands
traversed and occupied by the plants facilities. October 2007, the group continued sending letters to the city
asking the latter to respond but the letters were ignored. So we had to consult a lawyer in the person of Eugene
Balitang, the youngest governor Ifugao ever had, to help us come up with possible solutions to our problems.
Soon we motored down to the Energy Regulatory Commission in Manila and were told that any public or
private entity must have a Certificate of Conveyance (COC) before doing business. Before that, an EIC or
Environmental Impact Certificate and an ECC or Environment Compliance Certificate be applied for at the
DENR.
Aside from the EIC and ECC, the applicant must undergo the FPIC or Free Prior and Informed
Consent process with the NCIP and must get the approval of the affected communities before it is given a
clean certificate to operate. Also, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) states that no
person or entity may engage in the generation of electricity unless such person or entity received a COC from
the ERC.
In May 2009, the Benguet Provincial Prosecutor dismissed for lack of probable cause the grave
coercion and violation of the water code filed by the city government against me, Ms. Dangwa and some
members of the TNHALA. But the Fiscal in his decision said, grave coercion must be directed against a natural
person who can personally experience fear, the consequences of violence and who has a free will that can be
controlled. In fact, prior to diverting the water that feeds the hydro plants, we asked for the consent of the
hydro plant employees. To present a brief history of the Asin hydro plants from the book of EJ Halsema as
written by his son James, the facilities were built during the American regime for a common good. The electric
plants were the earliest source of power supply for Baguio and Benguet before the construction of the
Ambuclao and Binga dams. Since Engr. Halsema was the first and last American mayor of Baguio, what was
ceded by the Americans to the city government were the machineries of the hydro plants and operation of the
same, not the lands where these were located.
In 2010, Mayor Domogan ended a long court battle with the residents by signing a compromise
agreement for the compensation of lands affected by the pipelines and other facilities. We thought of this as the
win-win solution to a problematice situation. We accepted the mayors offer with the city compensating the
landowners by way of rentals amounting to three per cent (3%) of the net surplus from the operation of the
hydro plants subject to conditions that the rentals will be retroactive to year 2007, the year the city assumed
management of the power plants. The rentals that will also be subject to an increase after three years will be
received by the TNHALA that will assume the task of distributing the amounts to the affected landowners. The
other terms stipulated in the Agreement are that the TNHALA will have representation in the Bids and Awards
Committee to witness the bidding process (when the management of the hydro plants operations will be bided
out); be entitled to privileges and priority projects; have priority in employment in the plants; have scholarship
grants for landowners heirs; and subsidy in electric bills.
I remember Judge Pamintuan who received a copy of the compromise agreement said, kayong
mga taga Tuba, huwag niyo na i-divert of tubig kasi babayaran na kayo at kayo naman na taga city hall,

huwag niyo na patagalin ang bayad. The more this gets longer, the more problems you are going to solve. He
said this in front of his bench in our dialogue with city lawyers and city administrators. This is a little light at the
end of the tunnel. I hope the light becomes brighter as many of the landowners are slowly leaving this earthly
plain. Happy trails to all.