NO TO “KALIWA DAM”

SOLUTIONS TO WATER SHORTAGE – HOW TO DO IT RIGHT

By

DE LEON, Danielle Faye C.

DUMLAO, Minnette Clarice J.
KHO, Jazmin R.
MILANES, Ma. Therese M.
PALAD, Ma. Louies J.
SIMON, Janessa Rose M.

Submitted to Atty. Gallant Soriano

San Beda University - Manila
College of Law
In Fulfillment of the Requirements for 
Natural Resources and Environmental Law Course Subject

November 2022
 ABSTRACT

In Metro Manila, water still remains a scarce resource. According to the

Integrated Report of Manila Water (2019), water demand has continuously grown
throughout the years while the raw water allocations from the Angat Dam have
remained constant. “The summer supply deficit in the years 2018 and 2019 reached a
level where stored water in Angat Dam and La Mesa Reservoir can no longer provide
enough buffer. The years 2018 and 2019 were marked by a mild El Nino which caused
very little rainfall to replenish Angat, Ipo and La Mesa Reservoirs. The stored water in
La Mesa Reservoir was rapidly being depleted and in the first week of March 2019, the
water level reached an all time low, below the bottom gate of the intakes.” One of the
government’s solutions and initiatives to help solve this water crisis is the creation of
newer dams like the Kaliwa Dam. According to Moya (2022), the completion of the
Kaliwa Dam is expected to solve Metro Manila water shortage woes by supplying at
least 600 million litres of water on a daily basis, and easing the pressure on the 60-year-
old Angat Dam. However, recent reports and research by environmentalists have shown
that the construction of the Kaliwa Dam may negatively impact the environment and the
people living by the Sierra Madre Mountains which will be the site for the Kaliwa Dam.
According to a report published by the Haribon Foundation (2019), the project would
cause irreversible damage to the environment as the construction will take place in the
Kaliwa Watershed, which is a declared forest reserve and national wildlife sanctuary.
Previous research into the building of the Kaliwa Dam focused on the environmentalists’
point of view without providing additional information on the possible benefits and
opportunities that may be derived from the completion of the Kaliwa Dam. Thus, this
research paper uses SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)
Analysis coupled with the framework of existing applicable Water and Environmental
Laws, in order to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of building the Kaliwa Dam,
and in order to provide recommendations regarding other possible solutions to the water
shortage/crisis being experienced in Metro Manila.
 INTRODUCTION
Over the years, the Philippines has been battling for water security throughout its
archipelago. While being surrounded by rich and profuse water resources, the country
continues to be confronted with problems of scarcity and misuse of its resources. The
rapid increase in urbanization and industrialization has subsequently increased the
demand for natural resources such as water, food, and energy. Furthermore, the
increase in competing uses for water, aggravated by its inefficient management, has
significantly contributed to the immediate need for sustainable management of the
resource. (Philippine Eco-efficient Water Infrastructure (EEWIN) Strategic Road Map,
2013)

“PH in the Grip of Water Crisis”, an October 3, 2022 issue of The Manila Times
reiterated that the water crisis in the country is more widespread than people realize. A
TOP executive of a global nonprofit organization – Water.org working to bring water and
sanitation to the world said access to clean, potable water in the Philippines has
become a real crisis. Despite its growing economy, the Philippines faces significant
challenges in terms of water access. The country is rapidly urbanizing, and its growing
cities struggle to provide new residents with adequate water. In 2010, the government of
the Philippines developed a road map to achieve universal water and sanitation
services coverage by 2028. The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System under
a new administration, has taken on the formidable task of establishing a legacy for the
benefit of 15 million Metro Manila residents.  The Water Security Legacy (WSL) project
seeks to address critical concerns that for years have hindered the development of a
comprehensive water development plan for MWSS. (Water.org-where we work)

With the onset of the dry season, it worsened the effect of climate change, thus,
the Philippines is faced anew with the water supply shortage problem. The New
Centennial Water Source, more commonly known as Kaliwa Dam Project, is a twelve-
billion peso (Php 12 Billion) worth of joint venture agreement of Metropolitan
Waterworks and Sewage System (MWSS) with China Engineering Corporation (CEEC) 
that aims to ensure water security in Metro Manila. It is a new water source project that
would serve as a solution to reduce dependence on the Angat Dam and meet the
increasing water usage and damand in Metro Manila and its growing population. MWSS
was able to provide the Kaliwa Dam Project Milestone dates as of September 2022
where the NCIP En banc (CEB) in a Special Session approved the MWSS application
for Certificate Precondition. Despite the many issues encountered and the reported
unsuccessful public hearings especially hearings involving the 46 families that will be
affected and also belong to Dumagat Tribe, this project has its ways and means to still
continue.

This research aims to answer the following;

1. Is Kaliwa Dam the answer to ensure water security in Metro Manila? The
SWOT analysis of Kaliwa Dam.
2. Will the promised benefits of the Kaliwa Dam Project outweigh or justify
the costs?
3. Is water security more important than preserving our environment?
4. Can we really endure seeing the suffering of the people especially the
Indigenous People Group as we are snatching them their culture and their
rights to live peacefully in their ancestral lands.
5. What are the alternatives and what can the Philippines do to start trying
these to ensure water security in Metro Manila aside from building a dam.
 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project (NCWS-KDP) is a
banner project under the Philippine government’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) program.
The Kaliwa Dam project is central to the Philippines’ participation in China’s overseas
“Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) and part of the Duterte administration’s closer
relationship with China. It aims to supply 600 million liters of water per day and benefit
some 17.46 million people or about 3.49 million households of Metro Manila, Rizal, and
Quezon by providing a redundant water source to reduce the current 97 percent
dependence on the Angat Dam. 

The study for the Kaliwa Dam has been on and off the government’s major
infrastructure list since the 1970s in solving the water shortage particularly in Metro
Manila. Its development stalled primarily because of environmental and socio-cultural
issues relating to the planned construction. Impacts on this project have been
scrutinized from various organizations including the indigenous people against the
government’s decision to put it up. Environmental impact, land and settlement impact
and legal issues have been raised from time to time. As to the Environmental impact,
the land and water terrain-modification, soil displacement and erosion are alarming
concerns raised by experts. Also, deterioration of river water quality as well as death,
disturbance and displacement of wildlife species, destruction or damage to habitat are
indeed becoming the majors of all concerns that were being watched over. 

In this research, not just the environmental impacts are important to show
but as well as legal and socio-cultural issues. Local indigenous peoples inhabiting the
region are concerned about resettlement, the degradation of their environment, and the
loss of their livelihoods. A significant issue with the indigenous peoples is the
displacement of the Dumagat indigenous tribes residing in the area. According to
Marcelino Tena, the president of Samahan ng mga Katutubong Agta-Dumagat-
Remontado na Binabaka at Pinagtatanggol ang Lupaing Ninuno (SAGIBIN-LN), some
10,000 members of the Dumagat-Remontado tribe will be displaced with the project.
The communities are in a precarious position: their culture and livelihoods are at risk, as
their primary sources of income are farming and providing occasional guides to Sierra
Madre hikers. The area is also the location of their sacred sites and burial grounds.

As to its legal involvement, various groups, including several legislators,

raised concerns that the government failed to consult the indigenous communities to be
affected even as a “Notice to Proceed for the Detailed Design Phase” was issued to
CEEC on November 13, 2019. This issue of the consultation process and the
substantive requirements that it valid has turned out to be even more controversial.
Under Republic Act No. 8371 of the Indigenous Peoples’ Right Act of 1997 (IPRA), the
right of the indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) and indigenous peoples to self-
determination is recognized. The law also provides mechanisms for the protection of
their ancestral domains and the resources present therein. One of the means to achieve
this is through the concept of a free and prior informed consent (FPIC), defined as the:

Consensus of all members of the ICCs/IPs to be determined in accordance with

their respective customary laws and practices, free from any external manipulation,
interference and coercion, and obtained after fully disclosing the intent and scope of the
activity, in a language and process understandable to the community.

Moreover, a certification pre-condition  (CP) is necessary before a project can

proceed, as stated in the law; All departments and other governmental agencies shall
henceforth be strictly enjoined from the issuing, renewing, or granting any concession,
license or lease, or entering into any production-sharing agreement, without prior
certification from the NCIP that the area does not overlap with any ancestral domain.
Such certification shall only be issued after a field-based investigation is conducted by
the Ancestral Domains Office of the area concerned: Provides, that no certification shall
be issued by the NCIP without the free and prior informed and written consent of
ICCs/IPs concerned: Provided, further, that no department, government agency or
government-owned or controlled corporation may issue new concession, license, lease
or production-sharing agreement while there is a pending application for a CADT:
Provided, finally, that the ICCs/IPs shall have the right to stop or suspend, in
accordance with this Act, any project that has not satisfied the requirement of this
constitutional process. Additionally, several constitutional issues had been arising
recently as the said project was approved.  One of which is the Kaliwa Dam’s effects on
the environment which will violate Section 16 Article II of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution.  Secondly, it violates the rights of indigenous cultural communities as
provided in Section 17 Article XIV of the Constitution.

In this research, it will be showcased that the Kaliwa Dam project lacks basic
viability and effectiveness as well as problematic in its legal issues. It can just be a mere
temporary solution with such massive compromise and consequences. It has numerous
drawbacks that seem to be chosen not to be considered, given that it is obvious and
loudly pointed out by groups and communities. Incompetence manifests in the fact that
the government relies on this idea regardless of its downsides when there is a wide
array of other solutions to solve the water crisis, which require less costing and
damages.
 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The principal objective of this study is to delve into the advantages and
disadvantages of building the Kaliwa Dam to address the water shortage/crisis in Metro
Manila, including its environmental impact and its impact to the thousands of indigenous
people residing in the construction site of the dam. This study also aims to provide other
possible solutions to the water shortage/crisis in Metro Manila that are lawful and would
cause less destruction to the environment and to people. Laying it out further, the
purposes of this paper are:

1. To use SWOT Analysis and the application of relevant laws regarding the
environment and indigenous people’s rights to weigh the advantages and
disadvantages of building the Kaliwa Dam; and
2. To propose alternatives and recommendations coming from experts that
are lawful and less destructive to the environment in order to address the
water shortage/crisis in Metro Manila.
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Students - Future law students taking up Natural Resources and Environmental

Laws may use this study as a guide or reference for their research paper. Future law

students’ research may also attempt to refute the results of this paper and provide

differing results, or they may agree with the results and decide to provide further

relevant solutions for the water shortage/crisis Metro Manila is facing.

Academe - For people in the academe, especially those in the College of Law,

this research can serve as a starting point for future discussions and further studies into

the importance of establishing a dialogue with the government concerning future

projects that might be infringing on Constitutional rights and violating environmental

laws. This research can also serve to augment future classroom discussions on Natural

Resources and Environmental Laws.

Governmental Bodies - This research may further help the governmental

bodies involved in the building of the Kaliwa Dam to understand why the

environmentalists and indigenous people are against the building of the Kaliwa Dam

since this research paper uses SWOT Analysis to provide a balanced view on the

advantages and disadvantages of building the Kaliwa Dam. The researchers also hope

that this paper/study would be of help to the government by providing ideas for possible

alternative solutions to the water shortage crisis affecting the residents of Metro Manila.
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A Dam is a structure built across a river or stream to hold back water and store
water for the consumption of the community. People had been using dams for many
centuries even going way back during the Mesopotamia civilization. Dams were
considered a symbol of human ingenuity but recent studies of ecologists discovered the
negative impact of dam construction in our environment – mainly the rivers (National
Geographic). While dams serve an important role in utilizing water resources, they have
a great deal of positive and negative impacts on the environment ( Sait
TAHMİSCİOĞLU et al.).
 SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT Analysis is a method that can be seen as an useful tool to ensure the efficiency
of the Kaliwa Dam project by determining its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
By conducting a SWOT analysis in the planning stage, it allows the project to raise awareness
of multiple factors that might affect the future development. In particular, SWOT analysis can be
applied to evaluate the current state of the Kaliwa Dam project, thereby showing major elements
that are performing properly, and on the other hand, what needs to be improved. The main goal
of SWOT analysis is to focus on identifying torches that will affect the strategy, and action of the
said project. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors while opportunities and threats are
external factors. 

Strengths
1. Long-term water balance of Kaliwa Dam Watershed.
2. Aims to supply 600 million litres of water per day and benefit millions of people in
Metro Manila. 
3. If the construction is pushed through, the MWSS has ensured that those who will
be affected by the construction of Kaliwa Dam will be given proper payment, new
houses, alternative livelihood programs, and transportation and food allowances. 
4. Aims to ease the strain on the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system and ensure
water supply during the occurrence of El Niño.

Weaknesses
1. The Construction of Kaliwa Dam is expensive.
2. The Construction of Kaliwa Dam will cause long-term, irrevocable environmental
damage to Sierra Madre and its biodiversity.
3. The Construction of Kaliwa Dam will displace thousands of indigenous peoples
and their culture as well as their ancestral lands will be taken away from them.
Opportunities
1. Up to this time, the project site for the Kaliwa Dam Project remains inaccessible
and remote.  The area has no cellphone signal.   Schools, health centers are far
in between and if someone is seriously ill during the rainy months, residents have
to walk, ride a motorcycle through rough terrain. MWSS is eyeing for a
community development approach for the resettlement site of the affected
families. Using the well being based approach, MWSS envisions the resettlement
site as a model in governance, education, employment, training, health, and,
ultimately, well-being.
2. The deeper purpose of MWSS’ resettlement plan is to guarantee a sustainable
program for the locals and indigenous peoples and those resettled will be
tangibly better off as a result of the Kaliwa Dam.

Threats
Environmentalists stand against the Kaliwa Dam Project for various reasons,
such as follows:
(a) It will affect the ancestral domains where 5,000 Dumagat - Remontados are
situated;
(b) It is being expedited by the railroading of its legal process, particularly the
right of the Dumagat - Remontados to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent process
under IPRA;
(c) It will destroy the biodiversity and habitat of 126 species in 300 hectares of
the Sierra Madre and endanger 100,000 residents downstream with the risk of
massive flooding;
(d) It will entail an unnecessary 10.37 billion-peso loan from China, further
worsening our debt-ridden economy;
(e) It will need every Filipino, including those outside Metro Manila, to shoulder
the debt;
 (f) It faces a short lifespan of 5-6 years due to the high rate of sedimentation in
the area;
(g) It allows China to settle disputes on the project using their laws and on their
territory;
(h) It may cause our government to surrender Philippine territory to pay off the
loan. 

Manila Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System claims that the project is
a new water source to meet increasing water demand through the construction of a dam
for its area’s domestic water supply. For its devastating consequences on the people, it
has met with vehement protests from civil society, with visible opposition from the
Catholic Church. Almost 300 hectares of forest ecosystems in the Sierra Madre will be
submerged in water, endangering 126 endemic and endangered plant and wildlife
species, thus destroying the biodiversity of that mountain range. The peaceful Dumagat
-  Remontados indigenous peoples will be displaced, while their way of life and culture
will be devastated.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://mwss.gov.ph/projects/new-centennial-water-source-kaliwa-dam-project/
https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/EEWIN%20Roadmap_Philippines.pdf

https://haribon.org.ph/stop-kaliwa-dam/

https://youtu.be/-x9udr5a7qQ

https://www.tatlerasia.com/power-purpose/ideas-education/kaliwa-dam-project-explained

https://protectourlands.carrd.co/#narrative

https://emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Kaliwa-Dam_EIS.pdf

https://reports.manilawater.com/2019/special-reports/water-supply-crisis