PH clarifies issue on Lanao Lake in future Bangsamoro

MANILA — The regulation of existing hydropower plants in Lake Lanao, a major source of power in Mindanao, will remain primarily under the concerned national government agencies, GPH peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer clarified during the continuation of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee hearings on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), or House Bill 4994. However, as host community to the power plants, the local governments concerned shall continue to benefit from the resource use fees that are allocated to it,” the government negotiator said. Moreover, there will cooperation and coordination between the two levels of governments to ensure harmonious and effective utilization of the waters.” Lake Lanao falls within Lanao del Sur, one of the five provinces of theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and is part of the envisioned core territory of the proposed Bangsamoro political entity. According to Section 3 of Article V of the bill, when power generation, transmission, and distribution facilities are connected to the national transmission grid, the Central Government and the Bangsamoro Government shall cooperate and coordinate through the intergovernmental relations mechanism.” The intergovernmental relations body is a joint national-Bangsamoro secretariat that will be put up to facilitate interaction between relevant national agencies and their Bangsamoro counterparts. Inland water It is possible that power generation in the form of mini-hydropower plants and the like will be put up by private entities or a future government-owned or controlled cooperation of the Bangsamoro government,” said Coronel-Ferrer. If these are not connected to the national transmission grid, these shall be under the regulatory powers of the Bangsamoro government, she explained. According to Article V of the proposed Bangsamoro bill, the Bangsamoro government shall have the authority to regulate power generation, transmission and distribution that operate exclusively in the Bangsamoro and are not connected to the national transmission grid. Coronel-Ferrer clarified, however, that there should be a distinction between Lake Lanao as an energy source and as an inland water resource. Lake Lanao being an inland water within the Bangsamoro, the responsibility for its protection and management properly belongs to the municipal and provincial local governments, as well as that of the regional Bangsamoro government,” she said. The clarification was made in response to inquiries made by Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Chair Luwalhati Antonino, who opined that having two distinct government entities to determine the protocol on the utilization and management of this resource may prove problematic unless appropriately clarified and addressed in the final Bangsamoro legislation. Coronel-Ferrer further explained that as a water resource, another provision in the Bangsamoro bill deals with water supplies and services, flood control and irrigation systems in the Bangsamoro. According to the provision, when these systems connect to or from outside the Bangsamoro, all concerned governance bodies shall coordinate. For lakes and rivers whose waters cascade down to other municipalities, the jurisdiction over these facilities shall be shared with all the relevant agencies and adjoining local governments,” said Coronel-Ferrer. Water Protocol Also present during the day’s deliberations—which focused on the implications of the proposed Bangsamoro entity on the matters of trade—were economist Felipe Medalla and Mindanao Business Council President, Vicente Lao. Medalla recommended that the final draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law should include provisions that will establish a water resource regulation board that can determine which use of the water resources (i.e. as a power source, natural resource base, et al.) should be given priority. He added that this is a matter that the current iteration of the draft law seems fully capable of supporting. The more these issues are proactively addressed [as early as this stage of deliberations], the better it will be for the Bangsamoro region that will be established—and the nation, as a whole,” Medalla said. Medalla also opined that the water needs of the people living in the area may take precedence over all other uses. Mindanao power Lao, meanwhile, suggested that a Mindanao Power Corporation be established to ensure that control over the south’s power grid are within the hands of those who live in the region itself. The current base-load of electricity in Mindanao comes largely from hydroelectric sources. Hydropower contributes roughly more than 700 megawatts to the overall Mindanao’s power demand of 1,300 megawatts. The Bangsamoro Government shall promote more investments in the power sector industry in the Bangsamoro, and may eventually sell power to the national grid, according to the bill. With this expressed intent in the bill, we can anticipate enhancement of power supply generation in Mindanao,” said Coronel-Ferrer.