Magat Dam ‘aggravates’ impacts of mining, logging, land conversion – IBON

MANILA, Philippines — The release of waters from Magat Dam isn’t the first time that it has caused severe flooding and destruction, IBON Foundation, a non-profit development organization specializing in research, pointed out on Thursday.

In a statement posted on social media, the group said “Magat Dam aggravates mining, logging, [and] land conversation impact,” and that indigenous farms and communities have been flooded in the past because of the dam.

“Ifugao lands were inundated in 2008 because of increased sedimentation in the dam’s reservoir. Cagayan and Isabela were also flooded by the dam during Typhoons Pedring and Quiel in 2011,” it added.

IBON Foundation also pointed out that in December 2015, the release of water from Magat, Angat, Ipo, Ambuklao, and Binga Dams during Typhoon Nona displaced around 200,000 residents of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino provinces.

The group said this resulted in 42 deaths and P6.4 billion worth of damage.

“Large dams add to the destruction already caused by government-sanctioned logging, mining, and land-use conversion by profit-seeking corporations,” IBON Foundation stressed.

But Wilfredo Gloria, operations manager of the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System, denied the claim of IBON.

“Magat Dam did not aggravate as water releases from the dam is controlled. It is the other way around. Had the environmental laws in mining, logging, land conversion and other related zoning laws were strictly implemented, the destruction should have been mitigated,” he said in a text message to INQUIRER.net.

Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba earlier said that the water from other provinces and the water released from Magat Dam flowed toward Cagayan which caused the flooding in the province during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which oversees the operation of the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System, however, said it has been releasing water from the dam since November 9 ahead of the landfall of Ulysses and then opened seven of Magat’s spillway gates to control the reservoir’s overflow at the height of the typhoon.

NIA earlier maintained it followed proper protocols in releasing water from the Magat Dam’s reservoir.

But despite some groups blaming NIA, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, a former trial lawyer, also doubted that legal action against the management of Magat Dam over the massive flooding in Cagayan will not prosper, saying the release of water from the dam’s reservoir was just one of the factors that caused the deluge in the province.

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JE