DECLARATION
1st Water for the People
NORTHERN LUZON Convention
24-25 November, 2004
Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet

WATER IS LIFE. Water is a vital element for our continuing survival. Northern Luzon has an abundant supply of water. The Cordillera mountains cradle the watersheds as well as the headwaters of major rivers. The Cagayan Valley region is endowed with many rivers while the Ilocos region has rich coastal waters.

It is ironic that the needs of our people for an adequate and safe supply of water remain unmet. Hundreds of its communities lack access to safe potable water. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the Cordillera population and 88% of the Ilocos population do not have water piped to their homes but must fetch this from springs or community wells.

The supply of water clean enough for use in agriculture and fisheries is likewise insufficient. In the Cordillera and Ilocos regions, farmers are often unable to produce a second crop of rice because of the lack of irrigation. Many more farmlands remain idle and unproductive for lack of irrigation.

What is the status of our water resources?
Water sources and facilities in Northern Luzon are in a CRITICAL condition.

Many of our river systems are being polluted. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation continues to spill cyanide and other toxic chemicals into the Abra River. In Kalinga and Nueva Vizcaya, pending corporate mining operations of Wolfland Resources and CLIMAX-ARIMCO pose a grave threat as well. The Lingayen Gulf has been documented to be contaminated with domestic and industrial waste. The disposal of waste from various industrial and commercial establishments remains unregulated.

All the major rivers of northern Luzon are afflicted by siltation due to several factors. The longest of these rivers, the Rio Grande de Cagayan, is silted up because intensive logging has denuded the forests and induced excessive soil erosion from slopes and riverbanks upstream. Intensive logging, along with commercial farming, has also deforested the watersheds of the Agno and Abra rivers. The logging done in connection with large mining is a primary source of sediments that have silted up the Agno and the Abra.

The construction of large hydropower or irrigation dams on the Agno, the Rio Chico de Cagayan, and the Magat are another reason for the siltation of these rivers: interfering with the natural flow of the waters, the dams have accumulated sediments in large volumes.

In Cagayan Valley and Abra province, commercial logging continues to destroy vital watershed areas.

Who is in control of water?
Government policies continue to give priority to corporate mining, tourism and big business over the needs of peasants for agricultural production and the people’s basic household needs.

Local water districts are now being privatized, in line with the World Bank’s 12-year (1998-2010) $283-million water privatization program that aims to attract private capital in 1,000 towns & cities.

The apparent shortage of water for Baguio City’s growing population has served as a convenient entrypoint for private bulk water suppliers like the Benguet Corporation. The former mining company has exerted all efforts to corner the contract to earn a projected profit of PhP60M per month. If successful, it will appropriate the water sources of agricultural communities in the towns surrounding Baguio. Other sources to be tapped by Benguet Corporation contain high levels of lead, mercury and cadmium.

Meanwhile, fisherfolk have to grapple with the problem of private enclosure of up to 15% of the Ilocos region’s coastal waters by large-scale operators of fishpens and fishcages.

All across northern Luzon, vital water sources used by communities for generations are now under threat of privatization by corporations and wealthy individuals whose main motive is to profit from the exploitation of resources that ought to remain in the public domain.

The foregoing water-related concerns are brought about by the implementation of national policies and programs that promote unregulated resource extraction and privatized delivery of basic public services.

It is in this context that we came together for the 1st Water for the People NORTHERN LUZON Convention. The activity brought together more than 130 representatives of communities, NGOs, the academe, the church, employees of water utility firms, government officials, and other sectors for a two-day seminar on water-related issues.

We, the participants, have the following calls:
Stop the privatization of water utilities and resources.
Stop the sale of water for profit by monopolies.
Resist the imposition of foreign interests and collusion by local monopolies and government officials.
Re-prioritize the national budget in favor of basic, social and welfare services.
Protect and defend the job security of government employees in the water sector.
Stop the pollution of our river systems by corporate mining and other commercial and industrial endeavors.
Stop the construction of large hydropower dams.
Ensure an adequate and safe water supply for the people.

Participating Organizations:
1. Advocates
2. Alliance of Concerned Teachers – Metro Baguio
3. Alyansa Dagiti Pesante iti Taeng Kordilyera
4. ANAKBAYAN – Ifugao
5. Baguio Water District
6. Bayan Muna
7. Benguet State University
8. Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera
9. Center for Environmental Concerns
10. Community Health Education, Services and Training in the Cordillera Region
11. Confederation for the Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees
12. Cordillera Greens Network
13. Cordillera Labor Center
14. Cordillera Peoples Alliance
15. Cordillera Women’s Education and Resource Center
16. Dadapilan (Center for Ilokano Studies)
17. Dap-ayan ti Kultura ti Kordilyera
18. Department of Agriculture – CAR
19. Department of Health – Cordillera Region
20. Department of Health – Region I
21. Ecumenical Theological Seminary
22. Friends of the Earth – Japan
23. Highland Conference – UCCP
24. Ilocos Human Rights Alliance
25. Innabuyog
26. Itogon Interbarangay Alliance
27. La Trinidad Water District
28. Lutheran Church of the Philippines
29. Metro La Union Water District
30. MIGRANTE
31. Montanosa Relief and Rehabilitation Services
32. Northern Dispatch / Northern Media and Information Network, Inc.
33. Northern Luzon Jurisdiction-United Church of Christ in the Philippines
34. Organisasyon Dagiti Nakukurapay nga Umili ti Siyudad
35. Peasant Leaders’ Forum – Ifugao
36. Philippine Daily Inquirer
37. PIGSA
38. RDC-Northern Luzon
39. Regional Ecumenical Council in the Cordillera Region
40. Rural Missionaries of the Philippines-Cordillera
41. Saint Louis University College of Engineering and Architecture
42. Saint Louis University College of Medicine
43. Save the Abra River Movement
44. Sibat
45. Solidarity of Peasants Against Exploitation – Ilocos
46. Tebtebba Foundation
47. Today newspaper
48. Tongtongan ti Umili
49. Uniting Church in Australia
50. University of Baguio