Cordillera police says Kalinga advisory council had resolution to remove monument honoring anti-Chico Dam oppositors

October 13, 2020

The regional director of Cordillera Police on Tuesday clarified that the removal of a monument honoring the oppositors to the Chico Dam project along Bugnay section in Tinglayan is on the request of the Kalinga Provincial Advisory Council of the Kalinga Provincial Police Office (KPPO) as it was built within the road right of way.

“Kalinga Provincial Advisory Council resolution to have it removed. PLEDS (Peace Law Enforcement and Development Support) resolution too,” said Brig. Gen. R'Win Pagkalinawan.

Based on the notice from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) the monument of Maciling Dulag, Pedro Dungoc and Lumbaya Gayudan was encroached in a portion of the Mt. Province boundary- Calanan- Pinukpuk- Abbut national road line network.

DPWH said it is situated 4.10 meters from the centerline of the road.

Kalinga police said the project violates Provincial Ordinance No. 2017-003 declaring Barangay Bugnay as “Heritage Village” in honor of the bravery of the late Macliing Dulag and Pedro Dungoc, and the provisions of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) guidelines.

The NCHP states "no monument sponsored by any private individual, organization or the honoree’s kin shall be allowed on any public space, unless the same is intended as a donation to the government and is sanctioned by a national government agency or local government unit, subject further to public acceptance and approval of a Board Resolution by the sanctioning government agency"

The monument was built in 2017 and was inaugurated as part of the people’s Cordillera Day celebration on April 23, 2017.

The dam, which was to provide electricity to Luzon but at the cost of flooding villages in Northern Luzon, was shelved by the Marcos regime after public outcry.

The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) said police have requested for the removal of the monument after a certain resolution of the Butbut tribe condemning the unauthorized use by the group of the names of the local heroes.

In a news report, family members of the three heroes have asked the CPA to disassociate the three IP leaders from their group.

According to the resolution, Macli-ing Dulag was a prominent tribal leader who led the opposition of the dam project, and so with his companion Pedro Dungoc and Lumbaya Gayudan, who were forced to join the local New People’s Army because of the assassination attempts by government soldiers on their lives.

The Butbut tribe’s resolution requested the provincial government of Kalinga and other concerned town councils to issue separate resolutions or statements urging CPA to stop misrepresenting the youth sector that the three local heroes were once under the influence of left-leaning groups.

Katribu Nasyunal group said Pagkalinawan in his visit to Bugnay, requested the provincial government of Kalinga to enact a resolution to remove the monument of the heroes and martyrs of the “Anti-Chico Dams Struggle” during the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

And on October 8, the DPWH served a demolition notice to the CPA and gave them until October 15 to voluntarily take down the monument.

The group condemned the action and called it as a part of the ongoing campaign of the military, police and local LGUs to end local communist armed conflict. Ella Dionisio/DMS