According to an article in a Davao newspaper, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and other city officials, have given up in mediating the Tamugan river use row between the Davao City Water District (DCWD) and Aboitiz Group’s Hedcor subsidiary as both parties cannot agree to share the river. They are now asking the courts to settle the issue between both parties.

Hedcor was open to making changes to their hydro power plant designs so as to accommodate DCWD’s use of the river as a water supply but DCWD didn’t find their plans acceptable.
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Looks like it has all been left to Davao City Mayor, Rodrigo Duterte, to decide the fate of two interested stake holders of the Tamugan river in Davao City.

He has asked for more time to decide the matter as it is technical in nature and needs further consulting. He has however assured that the decision would be fair and legal.

In one corner is the Aboitiz Group’s Hedcor subsidiary, who plans to tap the river waters to provide electricity to the Mindanao grid via a hydro electric plant. On the other corner is the Davao City Water District (DCWD) the franchise holder of water distribution in Davao who plans to tap the water in the river to satiate a city’s thirst.
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Part of the responsibility of Hedcor in the construction of the 42MW Sibulan hydro electric power plant is to protect 1,000 hectares of forest within the Mt. Apo Natural Park by means of reforestation, agro-forestry and erosion control.

Hedcor Vice-President Gregorio Jabonillo said the company is bound to protect the watersheds, not just for its hydro plants but also for the communities.

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Aboitiz Power Corp, via their Hedcor subsidiary, announced that their board had approved the scrapping of the 34.5-megawatt (MW) Tamugan-Panigan-Suawan Hydro Electric project worth 7 Billion if they do not attain consensus with the Davao City Water District(DCWD) on the joint usage of the Tamugan river. DCWD holds the rights to the usage of the river owing to a previously approved permit given almost 10 years ago. DCWD is holds the franchise rights to distribute water to the city of Davao.

The Suwaan part of the project was slated to begin construction this July, but because of an objection by the DCWD, was put on hold. Now, with steel and construction materials going up, the delay in the start of construction could mean that the project is not economically viable anymore to setup hence the board approved option to scrap the project.
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Anybody who’s lived in Davao City long enough knows that Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is serious whenever he lays down an ultimatum. The latest being that he will mediate to get Hedcor and DCWD to agree to sharing the rights to the Tamugan river where the former is attempting to build a hydro plant, while the latter will use it to source water to the city.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he will be forced to intervene in the matter if no agreement will be made after the 10-day deadline set by the City Council. The mayor appealed to both companies for a “little liberality” so they could agree on the brewing issue.

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Here’s an interesting development on the Aboitiz’s Tamugan-Suawan Hydro Project. The DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau has put on hold the ECC permit of the project due to the current tiff between Aboitiz subsidiary Hedcor and the Davao City Water District.
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