By Fernan Angeles
THE P20-billion Wawa Bulk Water Supply project takes another giant step closer towards a project intended to boost the water supply for Metro Manila and Rizal province as there seems to be no resistance from the Dumagat and Remontado indigenous groups living in the southernmost tip of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
According to WawaJVCo, the bulk water supply project has finally won the approval of the Dumagat and Remontado indigenous peoples (IPs) of Antipolo City in Rizal, in compliance to the requirements for proceeding with construction.
WawaJVCo, Inc. which has been pursuing negotiations with the upland tribal groups in Rizal, also got to forge a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Antipolo IPs for their support and approval of the construction of the Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project – Tayabasan Multi-Basin System.
The company said the agreement enables the project to move to the next step in the “Free, Prior, and Informed Consent” (FPIC) process in accordance with the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997.
WawaJVCo, Inc. said the negotiations represent the first FPIC process to resume after the lockdown protocols due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The company’s authorized representative, Melvin John Tan, said he is looking forward to advancing the FPIC process in the Montalban ancestral domain. WawaJVCo, Inc. is a joint venture between Prime Metroline Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (Prime Infra) and the San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders and Developers Group, Inc.
The project is seen to add a new water source for Metro Manila in an apparent bid to add supply in two years.
Incidentally, water distribution in Rizal is covered by the Manila Water, which has recently earned the ire of both the consumers for its poor services and erratic billings. Aside from the consumers, Manila Water is also under fire after President Rodrigo Duterte, in his 5th State of the Nation Address cited the need to review what the Malacañang chief executive aptly described as a lopsided concessionaire contract with the government.