Ambuklao Dam has more life left, say gov’t, ritual priests

Three ritual priests of Barangay (village) Ambuklao predicted good fortune for the re-commissioned Ambuklao Dam and its neighboring villages, where Ibaloi families have resettled since their original communities were displaced by the power plant’s construction in 1950.

In a ritual during the launch of the Ambuklao Hydroelectric Power Plant on Thursday, Ambrosio Estong, 88; Jose Alonzo, 85; and fellow elder Legazpi Manzano studied the bile of a native pig offered for the occasion and declared that the dam would not suffer accidents.

Their assessment was not too far off from the scientific evaluation conducted on the facility, which had been upgraded to generate 105 megawatts of electricity.

Although heavily silted, the environmental impact assessment made for the dam showed it still has 83 more years left before silt breaches the reservoir, said Paquito Moreno, Cordillera director of the Environmental Management Bureau.

SN Aboitiz Power (Snap) invested in Ambuklao’s modernization after it bought the dam and the Binga Hydroelectric Power Plant from the government.

Benguet Representative Ronald Cosalan described the province’s sentiments for the Ambuklao Dam as both “pride and despair” because the facility that provided power to Luzon 60 years ago also forced the dislocation of his ancestors.

Cosalan said this was the reason the Ibaloi opposed the construction of the San Roque Dam in the boundary of Benguet and Pangasinan in 1998.

Cosalan said he hoped the younger Ibaloi would not suffer the same fate.

“We cannot ignore the fact that some measure of community resistance to a revived Ambuklao still exists,” said Antonio Moraza, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the power generation group of Aboitiz Power Corp.

But Moraza said the company assumed the management of the dam by reconnecting with the community.

Snap sponsored last week’s “diyaw,” a rice planting ritual which is performed to ensure a good harvest.

The elders said the two pigs served at the ritual feast were meant to appease spirits believed to be living in the reservoir area. EV Espiritu, Richard Balonglong and Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon