By: Alim Mahid M. Mutilan, Ph.D.
(The late Alim Mahid M. Mutilan was the City Mayor when he wrote this article. He became the Governor of Lanao del Sur and the ARMM Regional Vice Governor. This is his positon paper read and presented at the public hearing on the Lake Lanao-Agus River Hydroelectric Projects of the National Power Corporation conducted by the Senate Committee on Mindanao Affairs held at the MSU Gym, Marawi City on January 4, 1991).
At the outset, I wish to thank the distinguished senators and other members of their party for their extraordinary concern for their brother Meranao Muslims who inhabit the communities around the lake. Their coming to this still depressed and neglected region of the country is a clear indication of that concern.
Collegues in the government service, and fellow brothers and sisters in the City of Marawi and the province of Lanao del Sur, let us not forget the fact that if the Muslim Filipinos have continued to be a problem to the Philippine government, it is not because something is wrong with their personal chemistry as individuals, it is not because their culture is flawed, and it is not because their cherished religion – Islam – is against progress, development or modernization, but because of the despicable conditions that have characterized their lives as they got incorporated into the Philippine body politic in this country.
Why were the majority of the Moros during the pre-independence period pro-American or anti-Filipino? Or why did hundreds of Moro leaders like the late Abdul Kamid Bogabong and Datu Amai Manabilang of Lanao oppose the inclusion of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan region to the present Republic of the Philippines as manifested in their famous 1935 Dansalan Declaration which they sent to the President of the United States and the U.S. Congress? The Moro leaders did so not because of an inherent dislike for their brother Christian Filipinos, but because of the various government policies and programs involving MINSUPALA that had led to their political inferiorization or minoritization; economic marginalization and destitution; the inroads on the various aspects of their identity such as their homeland, religion and culture; and the series of threats to their individual and collective security which became so acute beginning in the 1960s.Our great Moro leaders were not against sharing the bounties of MINSUPALA with their Christian brothers from the North, but they were awed by the brutal reality of their being economically squeezed out in their homeland, i.e., how they were deprived of the opportunity and the capability to be actively involved in the fast rolling wheel of commerce and industry in Mindanao.
I think there is no exaggeration in saying that policy formulation and implementation for the MINSUPALA in the past several decades not only left out the Muslim Filipinos but even victimized them.
The continuing failure of the national government to address the sordid conditions of the Muslim Filipinos is responsible for the high degree of alienation of the great majority of them from the national government. To many of them, the Philippine government is the principal party to blame for the current harsh conditions and the only institution that has the capability to fully address their legitimate grievances.
The people of the Lake have been mistakenly accused of being opposed to development—to the utilization and exploitation of the of the Lake and the Agus River. I wish to emphasize that we are not against development. As Muslims, we are fro progress and for the constructive utilization of natural resources. However, our concept of development is comprehensive and embrasive. It concerns all aspects of creation. It is not limited to one part of creation to the detriment and destruction of another. It is for this reason that we are opposing the unregulated exploitation of the Lake in the guise of development.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LAKE LANAO TO THE MERANAOS
The value of the Lake Lanao to us is certainly immeasurable. Perhaps, it is only next to Islam as our most cherished treasure in life.
We have enjoyed the gift of an invigorating climate throughout history because of the Lake Lanao. We have survived as a people with distinct civilization mainly because of God’s bounties found in the lake. It is because of Lake Lanao that we have sustained human habitations in this part of the country enjoying a decent livelihood. To say that the lake is a source of life for the Meranaos is not an exaggeration. This is because Lake Lanao is a major factor in the evolution of our peculiar heritage as a distinct people in Philippine society. Dr. Sarangani, in his Welcome Address during the recent Three-day Multi-sectoral Conference about Lake Lanao, was right in saying that the Lake is the “nucleus of the Meranaos’ social psyche for the name Meranao is rooted in the term ranao, the vernacular name of Lake Lanao.”
THE DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY THE REGULATION DAM
Since the construction in 1973 of the Regulation Dam at the mouth of the Agus River, there was the concomitant lowering of the water level of the lake and its tremendous and unregulated degree of fluctuation. As a consequence, the people of the lake suffered and the following effects became apparent:
a. Vast tract of productive lowland agricultural areas have dried up resulting in the economic displacement of many farmers.
b. The access of the different mosques and communities along the shore of Lake Lanao to water supply readily provided by the lake had been adversely affected. This can be thoroughly appreciated by knowing the number of communities affected and the number of people using these mosques.
c. The drying up of the littoral zones which serve as the breeding places and source of food for fishes. This resulted in the extinction of at least 23 species of fish in the lake and the reduction of the population of the species that have survived. The habitat of other wild animal species had been affected which resulted in their extinction or migration. These in turn resulted in the economic displacement of many fishermen.
d. Because the elevation of the lowland areas is only very slightly above the original level of Lake Lanao, the lowering of the level of the lake also lowered the level of the waters of its four major tributaries. This adversely affected the use of the four major rivers for transportation purposes. Again, this can be better appreciated by knowing the number of communities affected and the number of populations therein, and also the number of motor vehicles affected.
e. The piers or pier-like structures of some communities along the shores of the lake became distant form the lakeshores.
f. With the lowering of the level of the lake, its surface area which ordinarily determine the amount of evaporation from the lake is thereby reduced. This affects the amount of rainful within the localities aroud Lake Lanao which eventually affect the climate of the region.
g. The natural beauty of the Lanao region which is anchored on the lake is also destroyed. In effect, this destroys the tourism potentials of the region.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Water supply systems have to be installed in the different mosques and communities whose water supply have been adversely affected;
2. Credit assistance in the form of loans and economic support programs like manpower training programs should be extended to individuals families affected;
3. Scholarship programs should also be extended to deserving children of affected families;
4. All industries using electric power from the Agus River Hydroelectric Plants should adopt a quota system of employment in favor of the Meranao;
5. A minimum consumption of electric power shall be given free to every Meranao family;
6. A percentage of the net income of the NPC from the Agus River Hydroelectric Plants shall be given to the City of Marawi and the Province of Lanao del Sur in appropriate cases;
7. NPC should pay taxes to the City of Marawi and the Province of Lanao del Sur;
8. The lowland agricultural areas should be irrigated;
9. The rivers supplying waters to the lake and the watershed areas should be rehabilitated;
10. Piers in the different communities along the shores of Lanao should be constructed and those already constructed have to be reimbursed by the NPC;
11. Reparations in favor of farmers and fishermen who were displaced should be paid;
12. Creation by legislation of a Lake Lanao Development and Rehabilitation Council which will oversee the preservation, utilization and regulated exploitation of the Lake Lanao Agus River System; and
13. Ensuring the safety of the regulation dam, considering among others, its economic life. It is noteworthy that the failure and/or destruction of the dam will result in the instant drying up the lake.
These recommendations pertain to the adverse effect of the construction of the regulation dam in 1973 regardless of the Agus 1 project.
THE AGUS I PROJECT
Regarding the issue on the Agus 1 Hydroelectric Plant, I wish to emphasize the following reasons why we are categorically opposed to its opening if it inflict further irreparable damages:
1.We understand that we are exposed to a bitter and grave danger with the construction of the plant. This is the reason why we are pushing for the investigation by experts of whether or not the construction was done according to specifications and whether or not.
2. The construction of the plant was done without prior consultation with the people. As such we have been deprived of the historical site of kota (fort) Marawi, the fortress where Datu Akadir Akobar and his muhahideen defended Marawi from the Spaniards in 1891 and 1895. We have also been deprived of one of the best sport grounds in Mindanao where national sport competition were ionce held in the 1950s and the 1960s.
3. The construction of the Agus 1 plant has deprived Marawi City of the natural beauty of Lake Lanao and Agus River. Such deprivation and destruction of the beauty of the lake and the rivers destroy the potentials of the area as tourist spot in Mindanao.
4. If the Agus 1 Plant will be opened, it will have a tremendous destructive effect upon one-half of the city residents who depend upon the Agus River for water supply. Thus, such opening will create an acute water supply in the city.
5. Once the Agus 1 Plant will be made operational, a very small amount of water will remain to pass through the Agus River. This will not only deprive city residents of the use of the Agus River but the latter will susceptible to pollution and contamination through the wastes and dirts that are thrown to the river. In effect, this will cause heath problems to the city residents.
6. We will be further deprived of the marine resources of the Agus River. Hence, fishermen dependent on the Agus River for livelihood will be economically displaced.
7. Mosques built along the Agus River will also be deprived of the water supply provided for by the river.
8. Finally, because of the dislocations associated with the NPC projects, there is reason to believe that Moro insurgency will be further intensified.
CONCLUSION
Given the adverse effects of the NPC projects to the lives of the Meranaos, the failure of the government to address fully their concern about the projects will most likely intensify their alienation from the national government in its peace making efforts in Mindanao. But I am assuring our brother senators that the present leadership in the Muslim areas will exert their utmost efforts to help the present national leadership in solving the problems confronting the Muslims areas. I believe it is our obligation at the local level to convey to our superiors at the national level the real problems and needs of
our constituents. With the demonstrated commitment of our brother senators to the interest of all Filipinos, Christians and Muslims alike, there is every reason to expect that the national government will help us save, preserve our survival as an integral part of the Philippine body politic.
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