TABUK CITY, Kalinga – If the geothermal project in the ancestral domain of the Balatoc tribe in Pasil, Kalinga will push through, there will be no repeat of the situation during the operation of the Batongbuhay Gold Mine, Inc. (BBGMI) also in Balatoc in the early 80s when locals were relegated to the bottom rungs of the mine manpower.
Natividad Sugguiyao, provincial officer of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) said that the agency and the council of elders of the eight ancestral domains (ADs) covered by the Kalinga Geothermal Project (KGP) have ensured this by insisting that bulk of the community development project expenditures of the proponent will go to education in the form of full scholarships and education assistance.
Sugguiyao said that after six years, the Kalinga Geothermal Scholarship Program has so far produced 162 graduates including a lawyer and five engineers.
“This scholarship program stemmed out of the experience during the operation of the BBGMI where locals did not qualify due to lack of education and skills. The NCIP and the council of elders agreed on the scholarship program to prepare locals to take active participation in the management of the project,” Sugguiyao said.
She said that priority courses are earth sciences, engineering, accountancy, medicine, forestry and community development.
“Unlike in the BBGMI, the pool of employees for the KGP will come from the locality and not from outside,” Sugguiyao said.
Under the arrangement, each of the eight ancestral domains has 15 to 25 educational assistance grantees with the Balatoc and Tulgao-Colayao having five full scholars each. Educational assistance amounts to P10,000.00 per semester and full scholarship to P61,000.00 per semester.
The P32.2M total budget from school year 2010-2011 to school year 2017-2018 represents the 66 percent of community development project expenditures of the proponent with the remainder going to various community projects.
Sugguiyao said that the Geothermal Service Contract (GSC) granted by the Department of Energy (DOE) to the joint venture Guidance Management Corp (GMC) and Aragorn Power and Energy Corp. (APEC) in 2008 covers 11 ADs namely those of the tribes of Balatoc, Dalupa-Ableg, Dangtalan, Guinaang and Colayo in Pasil, Uma in Lubuagan, and Tulgao, Tinglayan, Dananao and Sumadel in Tinglayan.
Sugguiyao said that according to initial studies, the Balatoc, Colayo, Dananao and Sumadel ADs are commercially viable but Sumadel has not given its consent to the project and the developer has opted to withdraw from Dananao because of internal strife caused by the project.
Sugguiyao said that because of the harsh geographic conditions of Colayo, the developer decided to concentrate in the Balatoc AD adding that if it materializes, the initial geothermal plant will generate 120 megawatts.
Sugguiyao said that the developer is still awaiting the action of the DOE on its application for extension of the GSC filed last year and that once the extension is given, the developer could proceed with the sub-phase 3 which involves the drilling of exploration wells.
“Despite the delay in the issuance of the GSC extension, the developer is honoring its corporate social responsibility by continuing with the scholarships and other ongoing community development projects,” Sugguiyao said.**By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
