SCRL Assures Itogon Folks of Better Livelihood

by Evelyn S. Lorenzo, RIO II

BAGUIO CITY -- "If the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam Project (SRMPDP) promises to be a blessing to the country, then why can't it be a blessing to the people of Itogon."

This was how Itogon Vice-Mayor Aloysius Kato set the tone of the recently concluded preparatory conference of the Special Committee on Resettlement and Livelihood (SCRL), formerly known as the Task Force on Resettlement and Livelihood created in 1999 to reduce the social cost of displacement by the mega development projects like the SRMPDP.

Convened by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-CAR director Porfiria M. Bernardez, the conference tackled the livelihood situation in Itogon as well as the proposals of other agencies before finalizing commitments

Vice Mayor Kato said that the most prominent livelihood initiatives in the municipality have spurred from the 17 conditionalities laid down by the local government for the SRMPDP implementers to comply with as early as 1995.

Among these requisites include effective livelihood that means implementing local resource-based livelihood coupled with tenurial management.  Kato said that the project-affected peoples (PAPs) are dependent on their ancestral land claims for their livelihood and thus, the context of assistance by other agencies should be anchored in the same framework.

He reported that the LGU has worked on improving the farm to market roads and school buildings with the P20 million advance payment of share from the San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC) operation.  He also mentioned that the National Power Corporation (NPC) directly released Ps. 2.5 million to various livelihood associations as soft loans, but these projects were not sustained.

The Rapid Field Assessment conducted by private consultants to the SCRL in 1999 confirms the failure of most NPC-assisted projects that has been largely due to inadequate social preparation of beneficiary groups.

What complicates the situation are the disparities in the list of project- affected families which the LGU is presently working on, and the recent option of families within the  SRMPDP reservoir area to relocate as a group.  The NPC was reported to be preparing for this.

Faced with these challenges, DSWD undersecretary for field operations Lualhati Pablo urged the SCRL members to be watchful of the pitfalls scored by previous projects.

She stressed that the proposed livelihood measures for Itogon like the Lower Agno Integrated Watershed Management Project (IWMP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) worth Ps. 22 million should seriously consider a social preparation component.  She suggested the representation of the DSWD and the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) in the project committee headed by the DENR.

NGO Representative Dr. Julie Cabato of Shountog Foundation, a staunch advocate on environment concerns and ancestral land claims, backed this premise saying that the DENR should include social preparation costs in this year's mobilization component worth Ps. 20.6 million.

Setting the direction of the SCRL's initial action, Usec. Pablo suggested that the group focus on beefing up proposals to ensure their affectivity as envisioned by the Itogon people.

The SCRL members agreed to review further past livelihood measures including those initiated by other agencies or organizations to ascertain the most responsive commitment they can make.

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