WATER CRISIS OR DAMN THE DAM JUSTIFICATION?

"In any crisis, it opens opportunity, a crisis is a chance, a turning point to initiate a solution..."

What if the crisis were made to create an opportunity to justify a controversial decision or a preemptive justification? It is like laying down a crisis to justify the need for a solution?

Today, Metro Manila is experiencing some sort of an unexpected water shortage...and the excuse of the water concessionaire - they did not expect it, that after their announcement of a scheduled service interruption, many started stocking up, depleting the reserve. What? #@#@W@!!

Impeccable timing! Now that a group of lawmakers were making noise questioning the loan from China on the installation of a dam, which the lawmakers find disadvantageous to the country.

The rates are usurious and the conditions or provisions apparently favors China...to wit:

Loan Terms:

***The project has an interest rate of 2%, much higher than Japan's rates of 0.25% to 0.75%.

***The total project cost totals to P4.37 billion, while the loan agreement only covers P3.69 billion.

***A "management fee" worth $186,260 and a "commitment fee" worth 0.3% per annum. According to the agreement, this will be "calculated on the undrawn and uncanceled balance of the Facility."

This is to be paid "in full without counterclaim or retention."

Dangerous/Vague Provisions:

***A dangerous component of the Agreement is a vaguely worded provision that does not recognize our sovereign rights & could allow China to take control of our patrimonial properties should we fail to pay the loan. Sounds like, Sri Lanka’s Hambatota Port, that when Sri lanka defaulted, the port was taken over by the Chinese, for 99 years.

The agreement stipulates that the Philippines having to waive off its right to immunity twice, in Articles 5 and 8.

***By signing the deal, the Philippines under Article 5.5 is not "entitled to any right of immunity on the grounds of sovereign" in the case of arbitration and execution of any legal processes in relation to the project.

***Reiterated in Article 8.1, which stated that the country will also have to waive off "any immunity on the grounds of sovereign or otherwise for itself or its property in connection with any arbitration" that stems from unresolved disagreements related to the irrigation project. In other words, the arbitration will only recognize Chinese court or ruling.

Now let us talk about the labor and its cost. Our experience in the last two years on the influx of Chinese labor in the country...I need not elaborate, they are coming in droves.

It is no secret that when China provides the loan, they impose conditions that allows their own workers instead of hiring our own workers.

Take the case of construction workers, the lowest rank Filipino laborer is given a salary of P500 more or less in NCR, compared to a Chinese laborer receiving P3,000!

Why the disparity? Simple explanation is, labor cost are part of the development cost that will be charged anyway to the total project cost, which will be passed on anyway to the Philippines as part of the project cost (loan).

Double whammy! China will fund the project thru a loan with usurious interest rate, they assign their own contractor which would charge you of the material cost and operational cost, including miscellaneous cost.

So they earn a high interest from the loan and a hefty profit margin for their sponsored Chinese companies.

Wait there is more...they provide work for their own workers with an extravagant wages, depriving the Filipinos of the job.

In summary, Chinese government earns interest from the loan + Chinese companies earns profit from the project + Chinese workers given the jobs with extravagant wages.

The Dam project in question: The Chico River Pump Irrigation Project is the first flagship infrastructure project financed by China under President Rodrigo Duterte's "Build, Build, Build" program.

It claims to help some 4,000 farming families by irrigating around 8,700 hectares of agricultural land in Kalinga and Cagayan.

Brief Background:

The Chico River (Spanish: Rio Chico de Cagayan), is a river system in the Philippines in the island of Luzon, encompassing the regions of Cordillera and Cagayan Valley. It is the longest tributary of Cagayan River.

The most extensive river in the Cordillera region, it covers the provinces of Mountain Province, Kalinga and Cagayan. It is referred to as a "river of life" for the Kalinga people who live on its banks, and is well known among development workers because of the Chico River Dam Project, an electric power generation project which local residents resisted for three decades before it was finally shelved in the 1980s - a landmark case study concerning ancestral domain issues in the Philippines.

Related Story: 

via Philstar: MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday expressed concern about water interruptions in parts of Metro Manila and nearby areas, assuring the public that measures would be taken to address the problem.

“We’re always concerned with respect to any problem affecting the welfare of people,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said at a press briefing.

“We will respond to that. But the problem is the water should come from the sky. What if it does not rain? We may have to wait,” he added.

Meantime, congresmann Zarate asked the public to be vigilant about water interruptions as government could use the incident to declare a “water crisis” and implement “destructive dam projects.”

“We should also be vigilant that these water interruptions would not be used by government and vested interests to foist another supposed ‘water crisis’ to justify their destructive dam projects,” Zarate said.

Bayan Muna chair Neri Colmenares said water concessionaires in Metro Manila should act swiftly on the water crisis to serve their customers who are paying a steep price for water service.

“This should be remedied at the soonest time possible because water is a basic need. Kapag magtataas sila ng singil ang bibilis pero kapag sa serbisyo naman ay ang babagal,” he added.

File Picture (Miguel De Guzman/
Reference Links:

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1093835/probe-unexpected-water-interruption-in-metro-manila-bayan-muna?utm_expid=.XqNwTug2W6nwDVUSgFJXed.1

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/03/12/1900793/water-crisis-worries-palace#14lfdZH4qDJv4DBx.99

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/06/18/mwss-defends-china-funded-dam-project-in-quezon