KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT & PHILIPPINE UPR WATCH
PRESS RELEASE
13 November 2023
Groups urge investigation into Jalaur dam impacts, killings as UN climate rapporteur visits Iloilo
Environmental and human rights groups met with United Nations Climate Change and Human Rights Special Rapporteur Ian Fry today as he embarked on a one-day trip to Iloilo to inquire about issues surrounding the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project, also known as the Jalaur Megadam.
Environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) has been critical of megadam projects like the Jalaur Megadam because, despite promises of providing irrigation, water supply, and electricity, these have “been linked to massive environmental and human rights violations, including outright massacres and the displacement of entire communities.” They also criticized the continuation of the Kaliwa Dam project in the Rizal-Quezon area, which will also cause the displacement of indigenous Dumagat communities.
“Megadam projects across the country have consistently been opposed by indigenous and local communities, due to the massive social and environmental costs they bring,” said Jon Bonifacio, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE. “With the Jalaur project in particular, the Tumandok massacre of 2020 is a clear indication that the proponents of the dam have blood on their hands, and that in itself should be a reason to put an end to the project.”
On December 30, 2020, military forces executed nine Tumandok indigenous leaders and arrested 17 more across three municipalities of Iloilo, in an incident now known as the Tumandok massacre. The victims were known to have opposed the construction of the Jalaur Megadam, and were subject to red-tagging and harassment by the military prior to the incident.
In a statement, the Jalaur River for the People Movement (JRPM) based in Iloilo welcomed the visit of the special rapporteur, calling on Fry to “to investigate these rights violations and make the banks, governments, and state forces accountable” and calling for the suspension of the dam project. Aside from the human rights violations linked to the dam, JRPM also cited the project’s location near an active fault line and the destruction of hundreds of hectares of forest as additional reasons for its suspension.
“We hope that the UN Special Rapporteur will express their concerns on projects like the Jalaur Megadam and Kaliwa Dam to the Philippine government. The rapporteur must recognize that these supposed solutions to the impacts of climate change are actually resulting in ecological degradation, community displacement, and human rights violations,” said Bonifacio. “We need to push the Marcos Jr. administration into action, and this starts by calling Marcos Jr. out for pretending to be a climate advocate while projects like this continue.”
Contact:
Jon Bonifacio
National Coordinator, Kalikasan PNE
[email protected] / 0939 913 6943
