MANILA, Philippines — A House of Representatives panel agreed to issue a resolution urging the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to stop the construction of the Kaliwa Dam project until the Free, Prior and Informed Consent process is finalized. Josefina Agusti, regional hearing officer of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Calabarzon, told House lawmakers the FPIC process is not yet completed. “Considering there is no consummated, completed signed FPIC process, it goes to show that the project cannot continue. But work on the access road leading to Kaliwa Dam was believed to have started even in 2019. Last month, over a hundred Dumagats attended a negotiation of the draft memorandum of agreement for the controversial dam project.

Source: Philippine Star June 09, 2021 08:48 UTC