Hedcor, a unit of Aboitiz Power, expects to secure an approval from the Davao City Council on the construction of the 13-megawatt Tamugan hydropower project, after being delayed for four years.
Hedcor president and chief operating officer Rene Ronquillo told reporters the company was expecting the Davao City Council to come out with a “new Watershed Code by next week,” which will pave the way for the construction of the hydro plant.
Ronquillo said the company was expecting a favorable decision, as the City Council recently had a meeting with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to discuss the Watershed Code.
The code, or the Davao City Watershed Protection, Conservation and Management Ordinance, declares Tamugan river as a conservation area and banned any commercial development in the area.
The Water Code must be amended to allow the entry of projects like that of Hedcor.
“We hope so because the City Council committees on energy and environment had looked at the project. They had a discussion with the Mining and Geociences Bureau and they [MGB] came up with a report saying that the project will not adversely affect the flow of the river or the aquifers,” Ronquillo said.
He said based on the bureau’s interpretation of the conservation area map, “there is no problem with the [Hedcor] hydro scheme.”
“It was unfortunately a big misunderstanding. The MGB in the past came up with a study identifying what they call the conservation areas to protect the watershed and in their map they colored the conservation areas red,” he said.
