Metro churches seek stop to dam project

MANILA, Philippines - Catholic churches in Metro Manila yesterday joined various groups in calling for the cancellation of the controversial Laiban Dam project in Tanay, Rizal, saying it is harmful to both people and the environment.

The ecology network of the archdioceses of Manila, Cubao, Pasig, Caloocan, Novaliches, and Antipolo, and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ National Secretariat for Social Action appealed to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to stop the construction of Laiban Dam.

In a letter, the group urged lawyer Diosdado Jose Allado, MWSS administrator, to junk the project and think of other ways to solve the impending water crisis in Metro Manila.

The Laiban Dam, the group said, is the “most expensive project to be undertaken by MWSS, in terms of economic cost, size and expanse of the infrastructure, numbers of stakeholders to be affected, environmental effects, human rights, and the challenges to existing environmental and indigenous laws.” – Helen Flores