JEDDAH, 13 May 2005 — Members of the Maranao community in Jeddah have organized a chapter of RCAPP, a Philippine-based group whose main aim is to save Lake Lanao in Mindanao from further destruction.
At least 50 community leaders have agreed to be among the founding members of the local chapter of RCAPP, which stands for Ranao Claims Against Power Plants.
RCAPP’s national chairman, lawyer Bayan G. Balt, have told Jeddah community leaders during a recent visit that the organization legally exists under Philippine law and is registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In a press statement, the organizers said RCAPP hopes to “save Lake Lanao from the brink of serious ecological and environmental disaster” and “secure a better environment of Lake Lanao for the next generation.”
At the same time, the group will campaign for lower power rates within the lake area and for a separate Mindanao grid for the Agus Electric Power Plants Complex.
It will also seek “environmental justice” and the prosecution of National Power Corporation (NPC) officials for violation of the country’s environmental laws.
RCAPP noted that NPC, despite it’s being owned by the government, had not complied with the terms of an Environmental Compliance Certificate issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) requiring the company to build and construct irrigation infrastructures in the lake area, organize an environment guarantee fund and provide compensation to farmers in inundated areas, and monitor water-borne diseases in the lake’s waters.
RCAPP is also seeking preferential employment of at least 10-20 percent of all available jobs in government and non-government corporations doing business in Mindanao that source their power supply from the Agus hydroelectric power plant.
It likewise demands that NPC undertake massive reforestation in watershed areas of Lanao Lake.
Ali Ditucalan, a community leader in Jeddah, said the local chapter will be launched at the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) today at 7:30 p.m.
Interested parties may contact Ditucalan at 05074-22681, Usman Islao at 05036-85937, Albani Maungco at 05017-91495 or Bobby Dalos at 05025-81622.
Ditucalan said the chapter is open to all Filipinos who are concerned about what’s happening with and around the largest lake in the island of Mindanao.
Located in the province of Lanao del Sur, the 340-square-kilometer Lake Lanao is the second largest inland water body in the Philippines (after Laguna de Bay in Luzon).
The lake is fed by four rivers and its only outlet is the Agus River, which flows northward into Iligan Bay via two channels, one over the famous Maria Cristina Falls and the other over the Cinnamon Falls. Along Agus River is a hydroelectric power plant that serves as one of Mindanao’s major power sources.