Proposed Mindanao power corp to give focus on watershed management

Ensuring sustainability of hydro power generation for Mindanao through watershed restoration and management would be accorded high priority when the proposed Mindanao Power Corporation shall have been realized, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said Tuesday.Secretary Luwalhati Antonino said that the reliability of hydro power plants in Mindanao which supply more than half of the island's power requirements had been affected by the critical condition of the watersheds, aside from the reduced physical performance of the hydro power plants.

“The watershed condition in Mindanao is very alarming,” said Antonino, adding that the island-region’s forest cover now only stands at 21 percent.She said that if realized, the Mindanao Power Corporation could allot an annual budget of P200 million for the restoration and management of Mindanao’s watersheds especially in the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon where the Agus and Pulangi hydro power plants are located.

Antonino added that such major environmental effort could not be fully expected if hydro power plants are privatized, stressing that “we can’t compel a private entity to care for our watersheds.”She said that Mindanao is host to eight major river basins in the country, the largest of which are the Agusan and Pulangi riverbasins.

Within these riverbasins are 262 watersheds -- with Agusan and Pulangi also the largest-- that are drained by nine major and 20 secondary rivers.To date, Antonino said that deforestation and unsustainable agriculture practices has resulted in massive soil erosion.“The end result is a heavily silted Pulangi River and Lanao Lake”, she said, pointing out that siltation of dams leads to significant reduction in power generation capacity of hydro power plants.This problem has long been neglected according to Antonino.

The proposed power corporation, which shall be governed by the new Government-owned or controlled Corporations (GOCC) law, is hoped to take care of not just the regular maintenance of the hydro power plants, but also the restoration of its surrounding watersheds.

“That's why we are gearing for the implementation of a Mindanao-wide program on watershed management called Mindanao Nurturing Our Waters or MindaNOW  which shall be formally launched during the Mindanao Economic and Environment Summit on June 4-5, in time for the international environment day”, said AntoninoMindaNOW is a flagship program of MinDA in partnership with key government agencies, private sector and non-government organizations (NGOs).

“It is anchored on a sustainable development framework that aims to enhance an enabling environment towards achieving sustainable economic development while maintaining ecological integrity”, said Antonino. Antonino said Mindanao’s economic performance in recent years has been encouraging, but there is much more that can be achieved for the island-region.She said that the pursuit of economic development in Mindanao must not come at the expense of the environment.The island-region still has to catch up with the national greening program, which targets to plant 1.5-billion trees covering about 1.5-million hectares nationwide until 2016.

“The Agus and Pulangi hydroplants are our [Mindanao] crown jewels”, said Antonino, adding that Mindanao’s relatively cheaper power makes it more advantageous for investors to locate in the region.She said “Mindanawons know what’s best for Mindanao” and that the Mindanao people has already spoken: they know best how to run the Agus and Pulangi hydro power plants.  (MinDA)