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PANALIPDAN TUBIG KINABUHI
A Citizens’ Campaign and Call for Action
2009 WORLD EARTH DAY
Located in the Northeastern part of Mindanao, Carrascal, Cantilan and
Madrid are the first three towns from the border of the two Surigao
provinces. The area faces Lanuza Bay in the Pacific Ocean and is backed
westward by the ore and used to be timber rich Diwata Mountain ranges.
Its boundaries are Claver to the North, Carmen to the South; Jabonga and
Santiago, Agusan del Norte to the west. It has a combined land area of
66,209 hectares. The area derives income from rice farming, copra
production and fishing. Cantilan, Madrid and Carrascal, as a group, is
the food basket of the province. Four rivers drain through the area:
Buyaan, Carac-an, Alamyo and Panikian rivers. Carac-an River winds down
southeastward from its headwaters in Brgy. Cabangahan to Madrid before
it empties into Lanuza Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Alamyo River winds
through the mountains of Cantilan and Carrascal where it meets Panikian
River in Binoni before it empties into Carrascal Bay. These rivers are
either the boon or bane of the three towns. Protected, they will provide
continuous water supply for agricultural and domestic use; preserve the
rich biodiversity of the area; and ensure the preservation of the area’s
environment. Destroyed and abused, it will mark the slow death of the
three towns: loss of forest cover, vastly lowered rice production,
horrible flash floods and crippled coastal resources.
While Presidential Proclamation 1747 declared the above rivers as
Critical Watershed on March 23, 2009, we ask for the LGUs of Carrascal,
Cantilan and Madrid to reaffirm the proclamation to ensure the security
of our rice production being the breadbasket of the province.
Furthermore, we ask the DENR and its various line agencies to:
- RESPECT STAKEHOLDERS RIGHT towards a balanced and healthy ecology
etched under Sections 15 and 16, Article II of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution.
- RESPECT LGUs decision within the sphere of their territorial
jurisdiction guaranteed by the Local Government Code of 1991,
particularly Section 16 thereof (General Welfare).
- RESPECT the RIGHTS OF IPs in their quest for self-determination, the
preservation of cultural integrity and inter-generational responsibility
of conserving the land and natural resources for future generations of
ICCs/IPs to enjoy (RA 8371, IPRA Law).
· RESPECT NIA’s and FARMER-IRRIGATORS’ long use, prior water rights and
on-going rehabilitation of the Carac-an watershed and all irrigation
facilities as mandated by the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, the Water
Code of the Philippines, AFMA, and the MOA forged by the DENR and NIA
through the Southern Philippines Irrigation Sector Project (SPISP)
funded by the ADB in the amount of P200M, respectively.
- PREVENT resource extractive activities within the watershed and highly
productive areas to ensure food sovereignty.
- Immediately CANCEL the MPSAs of MMDC and CDC.
- Issue urgent CEASE-AND-DESIST ORDER against the MMDC & CDC pending the
final survey and delineation on ground of the boundaries of the
watershed described in Presidential Proclamation No. 1747.
BE COUNTED!
Join the March-Rally on, Monday. April 27, 2009.
Activities:
Alsa Martsa Para Sa Kinaiyahan – (delegates from the south will converge
@ the CIS-NIA, Madrid, SdS & start their march @ 6:00am, while those
from the north (Carrascal, etc.) & all Cantilan delegates will meet and
join the delegates from the south at the Cantilan junction, Bgy.
Pag-antayan, Cantilan, SDS @ 7:00am)
Misa Pasalamat – (concelebrated mass, 8:00am @ the Immaculate Concepcion
Parish Church, Cantilan, SdS, presided by His Excellency Most. Rev.
Bishop Nereo P. Odchimar, DD, JCD, MBA, Bishop, Diocese of Tandag)
World Earth Day & Victory Rally – (9:30-12:00, Cantilan Public Kiosk)
Symposium & Next Steps Planning – (1-5pm, Maalman Cultural Center,
Cantilan)
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“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing therefore that
I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do
it NOW. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way
again.” – Etienette de Gallet
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Convenor:
Surigao del Sur Irrigators’ Federation, Inc. ۞Cantilan Irrigation System
Federation of Irrigators Association۞ Diocese of Tandag Social Action
Center۞ Immaculate Conception Parish, Cantilan۞ Parish Youth Apostolate
۞CarCanMadCarLan BAYWATCH Foundation, Inc.۞ CAHAYAG ۞ Lover’s of Nature
Foundation, Inc.
National Network:
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)۞Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center –
Kasamaka sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth – Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE-Phils.)
۞BALAOD Mindanaw
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