JEDDAH, 22 December 2007 — A movement dedicated to saving the Philippines’ second biggest lake from “ecological extinction” hopes to attract more members in the Kingdom by organizing chapters in all regions.
Leaders of the movement called RCAPP, which stands for Ranao Claims Against Power Plants, said they have recently organized the Makkah and Madinah chapters and are trying to get the Filipino Muslim community in Riyadh, Alkhobar, Dammam and other key cities to do the same.
“We believe that the bigger the movement will become, the stronger our voice will be,” said Alinasser Radiamoda, chairman of the RCAPP mother chapter in Jeddah.
Radiamoda said campaigners in the Philippines are set to hold a rally at Marawi City on Jan. 2 to dramatize the movement’s demands, which have long been submitted to the authorities.
“Our campaign is not just ecological in nature but also for justice,” Radiamoda said in a phone interview with Arab News on Thursday.
He explained that the group is also pushing for lower power rates within the lake area and for a separate Mindanao grid for the Agus Electric Power Plants Complex.
“How could it be that while Lanao del Sur province is the main source of energy for the Mindanao grid, the people in the province are paying higher electricity rates?” he asked.
Lake Lanao, a 340-square-kilometer body of water, is one of the world’s only 17 lakes that gave name to an indigenous people. Maranao, as the people of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte are called, means “people by the lake.” 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 Linamon Falls.
RCAPP, in a press statement, said the natural stability of the water level of the lake has been destroyed by the construction of dams that regulate the flow toward power-generating turbines.
“Large areas dry up when lake water is suddenly siphoned without warning to feed the power plants. When water is accumulated, the lands become flooded that crops planted by farmers are damaged beyond resuscitation, many mosques suffer submersion of their floors, making them inaccessible for prayers, and houses in lakeside communities become inhabitable,” said the statement.
RCAPP said the destruction of the lake means the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
“Lake Lanao is the center of the life of the Maranao people. Mosques are built along its coasts and rivers since time immemorial so that washing and purification are readily accessible for Muslims.
“The lake has provided fish from its bounty that had almost 40 endemic species not found anywhere else... Ranao, as the lake is called, is viewed and treated as a gift from Allah to the Maranaos that they have to preserve for posterity its environment and ecology from the damaging onslaught of the power plants,”
In its earlier demand submitted to the authorities in Manila, RCAPP sought the prosecution of National Power Corporation (NPC) officials for violation of the country’s environmental laws. NPC has lately been changed into the National Transmission Co. (Transco).
RCAPP noted that despite the despite the NPC’s being owned by the government, it 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 demanded that the NPC undertakes massive reforestation in watershed areas of Lanao Lake. It also sought 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.
Radiamoda said RCAPP also brought the movement’s demands to the attention of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which has subsequently issued a resolution for the Philippine government to address the issues raised.
He said national chairman Bayan Balt further articulated the “dangerous ecological and sordid social conditions prevailing in Lanao” during the recent tripartite meeting of the OIC, the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Jeddah on Nov. 10-12.
Bobby Dalos, a member of the RCAPP’s Board of Directors in Jeddah, said the group also hopes to be a vehicle in educating not only the young Maranaos but other Filipinos as a whole on environmental consciousness.
To become members, the group’s e-mail addresses are [email protected] or [email protected]. and contact numbers are 05073-64703 and 05692-7479. Apart from Radiamoda, the RCAPP leadership in Jeddah includes Khalid Monawara and Yusoph Metmug as co-chairmen; Ahmad Ali Alonto, secretary-general; Abdulmalik Tagoranao, assistant secretary-general; Mike Mindalano, treasurer; Ali Mustapha, assistant treasurer; Yusoph Admain, spokesman; Ahmad Musa Balindong and Ali Aguam, protocol officers; Junaid Matabalao, Faiz Bilao, Usman Tubacan and Jamail Pandapatan, coordinators.
The directors, in addition to Dalos, are Nazruddin Dianalan, Albani Maungco, Usman Islao, Omar bin Omar, Ali Ditucalan, Malik Bayabao, Sherad Sacar, Rashid Sarilama, Yusoph Taha, Khalid Minodar and Salic Abbas.
