Press Release
November 11, 2009

CHIZ BACKS DAGUPAN MOVE TO SHUT DOWN SAN ROQUE DAM

Opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero yesterday expressed support for a resolution filed by the Dagupan city council calling for the closure of the San Roque dam in Pangasinan.

"I appreciate the fact that the city council of Dagupan stood as one in taking a stance at such an important issue affecting their community," he added.

Dagupan Councilor Joey Tamayo said the council decided to come up with the resolution after a local government study indicated that the release of water from the dam at the height of typhoon Pepeng last September flooded nearly all of Pangasinan.

The catastrophe resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people and billions of pesos in damages to property as well as livelihood.

Tamayo also said that Pepeng severely disrupted the province's milkfish and agricultural industries.

At the same time, the National Power Corporation (Napocor) admitted to the provincial government of Pangasinan that any movement in the Digdig fault near where the dam is located could result in a strong earthquake and subsequent flooding could reach the height of a two-story building.

The 40-year-old lawmaker urged the Department of Energy to seek other sources of energy rather than continuing the operations of the San Roque dam whose risks seemingly far outweigh its benefits.

Escudero also said that the root of San Roque dam's current problem could be the contract Napocor signed with an independent power producer--the San Roque Power Corporation--in the 90s.

"If we will recall, residents of Pangasinan and Benguet opposed the construction of the dam. But they were unable to get government to stop the project," he said.

Other issues that residents from the two provinces complained about were the government's guarantee for the contract worth $1.2B; the power purchase agreement that only raised the price of electricity; the destruction of land that was part of ancestral domain; and the possible flooding that could result from the project.

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