4357 Environmental Law Atty.

Chelin Sonza Alug THE EFFECTS OF DAVAO CITY WATERSHED OF THE HEDCOR SIBULAN HYRDROELECTRIC POWER PROJECT One of the issues that stirred, not only the City Council of Davao and numerous environmental advocates, but the city populace itself was the clash of interest between the Davao City Water District and Hedcor Sibulan, Incorporated, over the use and utilization of the Tamugan and Panigan river basins. To recapitulate, in May of 1997, the National Water Resources Board already issued a permit, specifically Water Permit No. 15729, to the Davao City Water District to use and develop surface water from Tamugan River in an amount not exceeding 1,044.29 liters per second (1.0443 cubic meters per second) during the months of January to December. This has been consequently increased to 4,678.41 liters per second (4.6784 cubic meters per second) from April to November and 3,440 liters per second (3.4400 cubic meters per second) from December to March, as per decision of the Honorable Board dated November 23, 2000. On the other hand, in response to the March 31, 2006 invitation to bid sent by Davao Light Power Corporation, for interested parties to bid for the supply of 400 Million kwhrs per year starting on 2009, Hedcor Sibulan, Incorporated submitted its proposal to build three (3) small hydropower plants in Calinan District, Davao City, to serve the growing energfy requirements of Davao Light Power Co. (DLPC). Thereafter, the Power Supply Agreement (PSA) was awarded to Hedcor being the lowest bidder.

It was then decided that the three plants to be constructed will be located in the following barangays: 1. Tamugan Plant BarangaysTamugan, Tawan-Tawan, Tambobong, and Wines 2. Suawan Plant Barangay Suawan 3. Panigan Plant Barangays Carmen, Cadalian, and Tamayong DCWD then raised its objection to the said Hedcor proposal to construct hydro power plant in the upper part of Tamugan and Panigan River. The said objection is predicated upon (TSWD). Table 1 Comparative Analysis of the Arguments Raised by Hedcor and DCWD HEDCORs Arguments With the increasing population comes the increasing demand for power to sustain development. DCWDs Arguments The city needs clean water supply to sustain the needs of the people; with the increasing population comes along the increasing Hydro-electric plants do not consume water. Water will be returned to the river and can be re-used. demand for clean water. The issue is not pertaining to the use of water but on location. Hedcor only needs the desired elevation in a river system to generate power. DCWD needs both the desired elevation and the good quality water in the river system. Production of clean energy thru DCWDs interest to develop a PhP 1.3 billion Tamugan Surface Water Development Project

hydroelectric plants is a must to maintain ecological balance and help reduce greenhouse gases that is the primary cause of global warming.